


Encrypted

by corvusam



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Chatting & Messaging, Dark Web, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Internet, Kidnapping, Murder, Snuff Films, Torture, Whump, deep web
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 04:02:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19967722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvusam/pseuds/corvusam
Summary: Adagium is a serial killer spoken of on the dark web—responsible for filming hundreds of live murders online. When Noctis gets too involved in his activities, he finds his best friend kidnapped with only a short amount of time given to find him.





	1. Alias

**Author's Note:**

> yeah yeah i know i started another au don't @ me.
> 
> this story's not for the faint of heart, kiddos. it involves your usual dark web shenanigans that you only hear about in horror stories on youtube, all the good stuff. and while this is in no way original, inventive or creative, i hope you enjoy.

****The room was dark and tinted in a red hue, as if lit by a red lamp.

When one looked, they could see it was not a lamp at all, but a skylight above with red glass. The walls were stained in something dark and there were no other windows besides from the skylight. A living body hung from the ceiling, thrashing weakly at the sight of torture devices strewn across the floor. It was hard to make out due to the chopped off hair and starved complexion, though it looked like a woman. 

Another figure, a man this time, wandered in front of the camera. The woman flailed as he entered yet was powerless to stop him from picking up a knife. The shot was angled awkwardly, yet the sound of a blade squelching against skin was all too audible. There was a shriek, a moan and then the man yanked the knife away.

Cringing at the splatter of gore thrown at the camera, Noctis quickly closed the tab and took a deep breath. No matter how many snuff films he came across, they never became less gruesome.

The latest one had been found on an obscure .crown link, left carelessly on a pastebin site. Part of him wished he’d never clicked on it but his curiosity would always get the better of him.

Noctis spent a lot of time making sure his VPN had still been active and shut down each router set up in his room. He had a total of six, something his dad always questioned him on. Well, he had stated he could spend his pocket money on whatever he wanted, so he never bothered trying to defend himself. If he wanted six routers, then he’d have six routers. Not that he realistically needed _all_ of them, although better safe than sorry— _especially_ on the dark web. Noctis stretched in his seat and grabbed his phone.

His eyes ached. Glancing at the clock on the screen, he realised he’d been slouched over his computer for four hours. How the hell had so much time gone by when he swore he’d only been on two websites? Then again, one had been filled to the brim with creepy videos which he _had_ to check out. Most of it was snuff shit but sometimes he’d come across weapon reviews. He’d never known until now exactly how many guns existed in the world, illegal or not.

It had just gone five in the afternoon. Peeking outside, Noctis could see it was still light out, and his legs hurt from sitting all day. Not to mention he needed to get the image of a woman being stabbed to death out of his mind. The eerie red glow tainting his vision, he pulled up the messenger app and clicked on his most used group chat.

It had not been active since yesterday. His thumbs darted over the screen as he wrote a message.

_‘you guys wanna meet up at the park?’_

There was silence for several minutes. Noctis set his phone aside as he awaited an answer, perking up once he caught sight of a blue speech bubble.

_Kinda late dont u think?_

It was Gladio. Guy always had his phone in his pocket, even if he was the one who used theirs the least. Noctis immediately typed back.

_‘yeah but i’m bored’_

_I'm already out, so I can meet you there._

_i can come!!!_

He grinned at the next two messages. Firstly Ignis, and then Prompto, identified by his obscene spam of emojis. Gladio eventually agreed via a quick confirmation and Noctis shot up. Cool, a nice way to break up the day. Grabbing his phone and house keys, he ran down the stairs—two at a time—before he almost collided headfirst with someone at the front door.

It was his dad. He was dressed in his formal work coat, tailored entirely in black and dark grey. Blinking in surprise, Regis set down his briefcase and frowned. “And where are you going?”

“To the park,” said Noctis.

Regis checked his watch. “At this hour?”

“I won’t be long, I’m meeting up with the guys. I’ll be back for dinner, swear it.”

His father reluctantly let him go after Noctis promised to return by six o’clock. It only gave him an hour, but that was enough to show his mates what fucked up shit he’d found today. 

If his dad actually knew about what he was doing, Noctis would be grounded for the rest of his life after never seeing another computer screen again. As the CEO of a business company, Regis had assistants to carry out his emailing and admin work for him. The man was completely clueless when it came to technology. In this day and age, it was pretty stupid not to have such an important skillset in Noctis’ opinion, although that just gave him the advantage to do what he liked online. Regis could try all he wanted and he’d never be able to get into his computer. He probably wouldn’t be able to even cut the wifi.

The weather in his neighbourhood was pleasant, a cool breeze making the sun bearable. Noctis shrugged off his jacket and carried it under his arm as he made his way out of the electronically-controlled gates, past their pool and out of the drive. One would probably be impressed to see such a grand house, except Noctis lived in the nicer part of town. Every house in sight was just as pricey.

Noctis expected the park to be deserted. Instead, he caught sight of two figures, one tall and one blond sitting on the wall. 

“Yo, guys,” Noctis called out as he jumped over the wall effortlessly.

Prompto grinned as he gave him a fist bump in greeting. Ignis, always the established one, nodded. He then passed him a can of diet coke from a four-pack.

“Isn’t Iggy the best?” said Prompto. He took a sip from his can. “Always prepared.”

“Thanks, Ig.” The coke was still fairly cold despite the heat. Noctis had been chugging monster energy drinks and Dr Pepper all day but the soft drink felt nice sliding down his throat. “You guys got here fast. Where’s Gladio?”

“On his way,” replied Ignis. “His parents are out, so he had to make sure Iris was alright before he left.”

It was cute how much Gladio fussed over his younger sister despite the fact she was in her teens. They’d often tease him about it, though he never stopped. Iris had to be beyond fed up but she never showed it. In the meantime, Noctis pulled out his phone and dug through the pictures he had taken earlier today.

He never got any of the snuff film, though he’d gotten some of the site he’d been on before he found it. Often he’d just send screenshots to the group chat but today he wanted to discuss it in person.

“Check out what I found,” he said to Prompto, handing his phone over.

The blond grimaced. “Oh, gods, not this shit again, Noct.”

“Where has he been lurking now?” Ignis asked as he took the phone from Prompto’s hands. He raised his glasses and instantly wrinkled his nose at the sight of a dark screen with red text, detailing snuff videos in a long list. “Noct, I thought I told you to stop. What if you get _another_ virus? That’s going to be a bit awkward to explain to your father, isn’t it?”

Noctis scoffed and flicked his raven hair out of his eyes. “You know my dad doesn’t know the difference between Internet Explorer and Chrome.”

Ignis gave him a disapproving look but said nothing else. Noctis spent the next five minutes detailing the site and what he’d found, which again, mostly included more of the aforementioned. Prompto kept wincing dramatically, Noctis finding his reactions amusing. Prompto was never one for the darknet. Neither were Ignis and Gladio, although Ignis was a fucking _amazing_ hacker, and Gladio had dealt with his fair share of cryptocurrency. They were his aides whenever he dove into a part of the dark web he’d never gone before. For the moment, Prompto would hang back and listen in to their online adventures whenever they hung out.

After he’d just about finished, Noctis saw the large shape of Gladio clambering over the park wall. It was quicker than walking half a mile to get to the gate entrance. His feet landed on the grass heavily. Giving him a wave, the trio waited for him to join them.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he took the last can of coke, “just checking on Iris, making sure the door was locked and all.”

“Aw, brotherly love,” Prompto cooed. Gladio gave him a light punch on the arm. The other three were only-children. The very concept of a sibling seemed bizarre to them.

Gladio was quick to catch on to the grin on Noctis’ face as he browsed his phone. “What’s this idiot been up to now? You still watching your weird murder porn?” He rolled his eyes when Noctis flashed his screen. “Ugh, get a _life_.”

“It’s not _porn_ , it’s curiosity. It’s not like any of these are actual cases these days.”

Most of the videos Noctis had come across were decades old. Grainy and recorded in awful quality, he was more interested in the obscurity of such findings rather than the content. He prided himself on feeling empathy. There was no pleasure extracted from the sight of torture, more fascinated by the gore than anything else. Noctis blamed it on his love for horrors. His father had always been concerned when he’d watch 18 rated movies at the age of ten, which ended up spiralling into violent video games and now dark web surfing. Noctis didn’t really see it as a problem considering he didn’t _like_ what he found. The human want to witness gore and violence was normal, he was just one of the ones who indulged in his curiosities.

From what he knew, none of the things he had seen were shot in today’s time. The Lucis police force were too good at their job, and Noctis was grateful.

“Can’t we go back to the days where you watched serial killer documentaries?” Prompto whinged. “Like, that was creepy enough, but this is… kinda gross, man.”

Serial killer documentaries were fun, however Noctis had watched so many he had run out of source material. By now, he was an expert on how they functioned, their backstories and psychology. He’d even been tempted to go into psychology for his degree.

“They’re all old videos, Prom,” he brushed off.

“Yeah, but they’re real people! Have some… I don’t know, respect!”

Once the others agreed, Noctis huffed and shoved his phone in his pocket. He’d just have to keep his findings to himself for now. He completely understood why they wouldn’t want to look at violence, yet how could they _not_ want to know about the dark web? There was so much of the mystical and strange to find!

The rest of the hour was spent talking about school, AKA the most boring subject possible. Both Noctis and Prompto had finished their second to last year, with only one left before graduation. Ignis was taking a year-long course in computer science while Gladio was thinking of joining the police. He was taking some time off education, mostly to check on his sister regularly while he pondered his career options. Prompto had been adamant on doing something photography related, but Noctis was left in the lurch. 

Everyone, especially his dad, told him he was wasting his time. All Noctis really wanted to do was play games or obsess over his internet addiction. He _knew_ he couldn’t keep going like this—but everything else was so _unappealing_. He groaned thinking about it.

When the clock ticked ever closer to six, Noctis stood up and scuffed the ground with his foot.

“Alright, better head back before Dad has a go at me. I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

Gladio scoffed, folding his arms. “Sure, but keep your internet browsing to yourself.”

He reluctantly agreed. Oh well. He’d just find a random chatroom and talk there. Noctis bid farewell to his friends and trudged home.

Regis was already sitting at the dinner table by the time he got back. The cutlery and glasses had been set, though dinner was still cooking. Noctis threw his jacket on a chair and sat opposite him.

“So, what have you been up to today?”

He asked the same question every working day. Noctis shrugged. “Just been on the computer.”

“Hopefully you’re not up to your hacking nonsense.”

“I’m not _hacking_ , Dad,” Noctis said with a scowl. Regis merely nodded and went to get their dinner out.

It had been only the two of them for many years. Having his mother die when he was an infant, Noctis was long used to a two-person household. Regis would go off to work five days a week, nine until five, and Noctis would spend his time in his room or at school. They did not share many hobbies so the weekend was spent the same way. Since Noctis was also a fan of fishing, Regis would occasionally take him out just for a change of scenery, but he had become more and more reserved these days. As the seasons rolled into one and every day was too similar to tell apart, Noctis had found most of his excitement on the internet.

Dinner consisted of salmon. Noctis was fond of seafood, though he picked around the broccoli on the side. Regis sighed in exasperation.

“Noctis, please eat it. You’re wasting away.”

“What? I’m fine,” Noctis grunted.

“It’s not healthy for you to sit in your room all day. I’m glad you went out earlier, but if you’re going to be indoors most of the time I’d rather you eat better.”

So he forced down one floret of broccoli to shut him up. Broccoli was among his bearable list of vegetables, but he’d rather not if given the choice. He was thankful that it was drenched in sauce to disguise the bitter flavour.

Noctis volunteered to take their plates. He was awful at washing up yet since he hadn’t eaten everything, it was easier to just get on with it. Regis burned his gaze into his back, still in his seat and work shirt undone at the neck.

“Since it _is_ summer,” he started. Noctis flinched, “have you given any thought into what course you would like to study next year?”

“Not really.”

“So when _will_ you?”

“I don’t know!” Noctis shouted before composing himself. “Sorry. Look, I’ll start planning when school starts up. I’ll ask my tutors what they think.”

Regis spent a long time staring at him before finally agreeing. After Noctis had finished doing a bad job of washing their plates (and secretly disposing of his uneaten veg), he ran straight back up to his room.

His room was easily his most favourite place in the world. Being twice as big as a usual living room, Noctis padded across the black carpet and slouched into his gaming seat. He mostly played his games on a console but had dragged it over to his PC desk for a more comfortable browsing experience. His TV, king-sized bed, ensuite and enormous CD collections were ignored in favour of his prized possession—his computer. It had cooled down nicely since his short break, so he booted it up again with no hesitation.

The satisfying sound of the startup was like music to his ears. Noctis took the mouse and expertly navigated through his passwords and codes that he’d set up to fend off his father. Not that he’d be able to get onto it even without the passwords. He had a group selfie Prompto had taken of them as his desktop wallpaper. His screen was littered with VPNs and weird browsers he had downloaded before clicking on Crown.

Crown was a web browser he used for his dark web surfing. Not that it was a _good_ browser. It was slow, buggy and crashed every other hour, though it was the best anonymous browser out there. It opened up to a black page with an empty search box. He kept it small on his screen, wise enough to know to never open a browser full screen on the dark web.

Now, what Noctis would normally do was head to one of the pastebin sites and snag a few code samples to type in. Crown URLs were typed as a series of numbers rather than written words, making it irritating to search for specific things. By now, Noctis was an expert in navigating Crown’s obscure pathways, but he had another intention in mind for today.

Typing in the URL, ‘ _http://78gn307av9r72.crown/’_ , Noctis landed himself on a website he was particularly fond of.

 _Insomnia_ was one of the most popular forum sites. Quite like its name suggested, it kept Noctis up all night. The shit on there was _weird_. You couldn’t host images, yet the people who used it ranged from introverted losers like him to deranged drug users. They were undoubtedly the best—the shit they spewed was beyond hilarious. Noctis enjoyed reading whatever he could find on it. Conspiracy theories, bizarre occult sites and then random links to wherever. The mystery of where he could end up was all part of the fun.

He clicked on the top link on Insomnia’s main page. Scrolling through the recent stories, he found some new conspiracy theories about how Niflheim was going to storm the Lucis capital. He chuckled as he read the frantic comments beneath it. Next up was another theory on how the Chancellor of Niflheim was actually a shapeshifting demon. The more absurd they were, the more Noctis found them amusing. Not that he would defend Niflheim, but _gods_.

Upon noticing the local chatroom going haywire in the corner of the screen, Noctis took a look at it. 

It was filled with people typing in all capitals. Links were being spammed, people were arguing, and it was just a big mess. Noctis had to pause the live feed so that he could actually read what was being said.

 ** _El_kilAfore:_ ** _Adagium’s gonna fuckin come for us if we keep talking about it here_ , read one message.

Adagium?

Noctis pursed his lips as he scrolled through a few more. After digging through mindless chatter, he found another mention of ‘Adagium’.

 ** _aardwolf:_** _don’t be a fucking moron. we all know he keeps his murder shit on his private streams_

 ** _El_kilAfore:_ ** _Yea but I heard he;s on lots of sites. what if hes on here??_

 _Murder_ certainly got his attention. Noctis shuffled his chair closer to the screen, eyes so close to it they burned. What, some killer was on the loose on the internet? Noctis immediately dismissed it as ridiculous rumours, though something kept him reading through the chat log. His curiosity would be the death of him one day.

He ended up clicking on some of the links posted. Most lead him to more discussion pages. None of them seemed useful in providing information besides one that caught Noctis’ attention.

It was an unnamed forum site, coded horrendously. The text floated out of the boxes and it was clear it was years old. Usually, Noctis didn’t go near such sites because they annoyed him, but there were _lots_ of comments that intrigued him.

There was a particularly long one that spoke of snuff films. Or more specifically, live murders streamed for those who paid for it. Noctis raised an eyebrow. He’d heard of these so called ‘red rooms’ before, yet he’d never actually found one. He’d dismissed them as urban legends since he’d found literally everything the dark web had to offer by now. If he hadn’t found a red room, then they clearly didn’t exist. There were no links posted, but then the comment went on to detail whoever the fuck Adagium was.

 _Have you actually been on one of his streams?_ read an old comment from about a year ago.

_Yeah, dude. You have to pay 500 QP to get in and it was fuckin crazy. I deadass saw the entire thing. Stream was laggy but there was at least three hours of torture before the crazy fuck finally did the guy in. Honestly kind of felt bad for watching, tho you know how it goes. Can’t remember where I got the link from_

Ugh, useless! Noctis scoffed loudly as he clicked back to the Insomnia tab. Cool, so Adagium was a lunatic who apparently streamed his kills online. 500 QP was quite a lot of money, too. QP was a cryptocurrency, and Noctis had raked up quite a lot in his years online while not knowing what QP actually stood for, but that was pushing it. He quickly went back out of Insomnia to check his bank.

823 QP rested snugly inside it. Ignis had set up plenty of firewalls to keep hackers out, so Noctis often left it sitting there for months on end. Sure, he could easily afford 500, though that was a quarter of the price of his computer. What if it was a scam?

Then again, there was the matter of actually finding this streaming source. Noctis contemplated ignoring it in favour of continuing to browse, but a nagging feeling in his chest stopped him.

What if it was real? Not that he had any desire to actually see a live murder, yet he’d never considered the possibility that such streams existed. Were people really that fucked up? Dumb question, of course they were, though still. He sat there for a while, scratching at the light stubble he had neglected to shave this morning, before he finally made a choice.

Adagium was too tempting of a name to ignore.

Thus his search began.

Noctis read through the entire chat log on Insomnia from where this rumour had sprung up. He searched the name in on the site’s search bar, but didn’t find much except for the recent stuff he’d already gone over. He looked for the name on the browser search bar and found nothing again. Trying his luck, he logged in and went to type on the chat himself.

 ** _blackxprince:_ ** _anyone here got more info on adagium??_

There was no doubt in his mind that Gladio would make fun of him for the next five years if he knew his dark web alias. Sure, _blackxprince_ was edgy—okay, _super_ edgy, but Noctis was fond of it. It was a dumb username he used when he was a tween and it just kind of stuck. 

For a while, nobody answered. Noctis sat there impatiently until someone finally said something.

 ** _El_kilAfore:_ ** _you got a death wish bro?_

He sighed as he typed his next message.

 ** _blackxprince:_ ** _just curious. Wanna know if anyone has a link to his streams, if it exists, lol. cant find anything on the links_

 ** _aardwolf:_ ** _you tried Gralea?? it’s a pastebin site. you have to pay to get in but from what i know its all legit_

It was the arguing pair from earlier. Great, more money down the drain. It wasn’t as if Noctis hadn’t wasted a fuckton of gil before online, though he would be pissed if it was all in vain. Still, he dug around for this Gralea site and found it quicker than expected.

A popup message stopped him before he got in. A request for 20 QP. Okay, nowhere near as bad as he thought it would be. That was only the equivalent of 200 gil and he spent that daily on energy drinks. Typing in his details, Noctis promptly paid and got access. 

Gralea was plainer than expected. The website was all white as typical pastebin sites were, and there was a small search box at the top. Typing in the name of this mysterious killer was enough to rack up around five URL codes. Three were more forum blogs, which again held nothing good. One didn’t work, and the last one spent at least ten minutes loading before Noctis actually got onto the fucking thing. There were more links and more passwords, some costing a tiny bit more QP, and by the time Noctis found anything worth his time it was around two in the morning.

He suddenly got to his feet and changed routers. Shutting his curtains and taking his jeans off to lounge in his sweats, he sank back into his chair and continued searching. 

He was on yet another pastebin. This time, however, Noctis had a good feeling about it. It had been ridiculously hard to find. Not many sites were hidden this thoroughly, so he took a little longer to study each line of code and text strewn across the flickering screen. It was glitchy and often crashed with a spam of DoS attacks, but there was _finally_ some mention of Adagium.

Most of it Noctis couldn’t understand. There were a lot of… occult references.

_Explore the wonders of dolore et cruciatu! Experience the magic of sanguine et agone!_

What the fuck did any of this garbage mean? It didn’t necessarily _look_ like an occult site. The ones Noctis had seen had bizarre symbols and languages, but other than that weird intro, it seemed normal enough. Noctis held his breath as he clicked on one of the links listed below. Some were just more information written in whatever bizarre nonsense as before, except one opened up to a new window.

An empty black window was on the left, while a chatroom was on its right. A timer ticked down at the top, stating there was less than an hour to go.

What the _fuck_. Had he found it?

Before Noctis could do anything else, a message blocked his view. Ah. It was the request for 500 QP. This was the big decision. There was no doubt that he’d stumbled across a streaming page, but was this the right one? The chatlog was blank and the video feed was dead. Noctis’ gut screamed at him—begging him to close the tab and shut down his computer for the next month to be safe, but that fascination deep in his heart overpowered it. 

He frantically took note of the URL code. It was another string of numbers, but he made sure he had copied it down exactly. He also took note of the many sites he had used to get here in the first place. There had to be at least 20 of the fucking things, though something told Noctis he was finally here. Whoever Adagium was, he was going to find out.

Holding his breath as he typed his bank details in, Noctis watched as the page processed his order. It was too late to go back now. Once he was in the clear, the pop up faded and left Noctis staring at the dead feed.

There was not much else to do besides wait. 

Noctis spent the time on his phone, seeing if any of his friends were up, however they’d all gone to sleep. He was fairly tired himself but there was no way in hell he was going to bed now. He’d been fortunate enough to find a stream that was starting so soon and had actually let him on, so he was seeing this through to the end. After playing some games, Noctis wandered around his room to stretch his legs and then flopped lazily over his bed. He could still see the screen, so he laid there until there was only ten minutes or so left on the timer.

The chatroom roared to life before him. As there was no option to make an account, people could type whatever username they wanted right there on the spot. Noctis set his username as blackxprince and sat back. He didn’t really want to say anything.

Most of it consisted of people talking about whatever happened on the last stream. 

**_trapezoid:_ ** _i hope he’s even more brutal than last time lolol_

 ** _MarqueRhinal:_ ** _This the last stream for this one, so probably._

 ** _SolutAm0k:_ ** _i swear 2 god if any of u cunts fucking vote before me again ill get adagium to go for ur asses nesxt_

Whatever they were talking about, this seemed to be the right place. Noctis grew more and more nervous as the timer ran out, while the chatroom grew more and more excited. Was this really a red room? Would he actually get to see a live murder?

When the timer ended, nothing happened at first. Noctis sat in the darkness, body frozen as he waited for something to happen. 

He almost screamed when something wet touched his hand. Noctis, flying out of his seat, went to grab the closest object to use as a weapon before he saw a familiar dark shape.

“Oh, for gods’ sake, it’s you, Umbra,” he breathed out. Umbra, his dog, had somehow nudged his door open (he must have forgotten to close it) and licked his fingers. Noctis had been too absorbed on what he was doing to even hear him come in. He gave Umbra a pat on the head with a trembling hand. “Good boy. What are you doing up?”

Umbra went to lie down at his feet. No wonder, the computer fan was pretty warm, and Noctis often found Umbra curled up near it. Why he wasn’t in his bed in the living room was beyond him but he didn’t mind him coming in to sleep here now and again.

He felt a little safer with his loyal pet nearby. Noctis swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched the video load before finally connecting to a source. It was starting.

The camera was panned into a corner. The room was made of white concrete, mud and moss coating the floor. It sat like that for several seconds before a hand underneath a black sleeve turned to move it.

There was a man. He was dressed entirely in robes from head to foot. A hood covered his hair and a white mask hid his face. The mask was formed into a sharp beak of sorts—its hooked edge curling outwards. It was akin to a plague doctor’s mask except it appeared more 2D. It was fairly ridiculous, but in this setting, it only filled Noctis’ mind with terror. 

The man spoke with a silky voice. The audio quality was horrendous, probably done to distort his voice further. He spread his arms out theatrically. 

“Welcome again, friends,” he said. “Here we return to the final livestream of poor little Adamus. Would you like to greet our audience?”

Adagium disappeared off screen to move the camera. Just out of sight was a young man tied to a chair. Noctis let out a strangled gasp at the sight. He was around his age, not much older, and was a sorry sight. Hs hair was matted and tangled and his face was drenched in old blood. His clothes were ripped and it looked like he was missing several fingers and toes already. What the hell had happened to him?!

Adamus said nothing, too weak to move. He whimpered as Adagium dragged a spindly finger under his chin.

“Oh, it seems he’s a bit tired. In that case, what would you all like to see today?”

A torrent of requests spammed the chatroom. Noctis missed quite a lot of it due to the sheer amount of people commenting, yet he wished he’d missed all of it.

_CUT HIS FINGERS OFF_

_Slit his fucking throat now_

_gouge his eyes out and i’ll bid on them!_

This was not fake. Noctis sat there, nervously laughing to himself at first as he digested what was happening in front of him. Adagium was real and he was hosting a livestream of the poor victim he was about to kill. For the first few seconds, he wanted to convince himself this was all a big joke, but the money, the hundreds of people watching and screaming obscene things… he knew it wasn’t a sick prank. 

Adagium laughed from somewhere behind the camera, probably looking at a computer. “My, what an excited crowd we’ve gathered tonight! I do believe there are more than usual! I am quite fond of the first gentlemen’s request, so let us remove the rest of Adamus’ fingers, shall we?”

The screams were _horrific_. Umbra looked up to see where the noise was coming from seeing as Noctis had forgotten to plug in his headphones. Noctis, eyes glued open, watched as Adamus’ remaining six fingers were chopped off in segments. Adagium took off half at first, and then stopped at each knuckle. His hands were left as bloody stumps by the end of it. The chat went wild.

“And for our next request?” Adagium hollered, blood staining his robes.

Noctis could barely watch as demands came flying through. There were people asking for rape, or for disembowelment and dismemberement. Someone even asked for a decapitation on the spot. Adagium took his sweet time reading each one, occasionally giving his opinion. It was fucking vile.

“I do fancy the idea of removing his eyes, I must admit,” the lunatic purred. “Let’s start with the left one.”

It was now or never. Before Adagium could get up, Noctis lunged for his keyboard.

 ** _blackxprince:_ ** _what the fuck_

“Oh, what’s this? I don’t recognise this username. A new member?” said Adagium. Amusement was evident in his voice. “Well, black prince, do you have any special requests seeing as you are apparently our most recent neophyte?”

 ** _blackxprince:_ ** _this is fucked up. i’m calling the fucking cops!_

There was an uncomfortable stillness. The chat was loud, however, and began throwing an onslaught of threats his way. Noctis flinched as he read each one. _Go die, get fucked, shut up fucking pussy_ , etc. However, it was Adagium’s silence that made him worry the most.

Then, there was a low chuckle. A chuckle that crept its way down from Noctis’ ears to the base of his spine, a sound that would haunt him for the next ten years.

“It seems a little lost lamb has stumbled into a place he wasn’t meant to be.” Adagium swam back into view. He had picked up a bigger knife than the one he had used to cut off Adamus’ fingers and twirled it in his hands. Noctis watched with wide eyes, regretting what he had just done. “How amusing. Well, I do _hate_ to cut things short, but there has been a change of plan.”

He plunged the knife into his victim’s chest. Adamus gurgled for a few seconds, body flailing as Adagium twisted the blade. Upon yanking it out, he fell slack against the seat. 

The livestream ended. The chatroom went berserk, slandering Noctis in any way possible for ruining their time. Noctis didn’t care. He hoped they would all rot for getting off on this shit. Trying not to scream, he went to shut down the tab. He closed the entire browser after a moment, paranoid out of his mind that Adagium would somehow crawl out of it and grab his neck. The man certainly looked like he was capable of such a thing.

He sat there, sweat dripping down his neck and his head in his hands. He wished he’d never gone online. Umbra was watching him, though Noctis was too busy trying to get the image of that innocent man dying out of his mind. He then moved to turn off his computer.

To say he was surprised when his messaging system booted up by itself was an understatement.

It was his email. Funny, because he never used it. Noctis went to close it but found out he was unable to. _Fuck_.

There was a new message sitting atop a pile of junk mail. The sender name was left blank, yet Noctis had a feeling he knew who it belonged to.

‘ _Dear black prince,_

 _You have made a grave mistake tonight. You have entered a realm which you do not understand, henceforth you will be punished. Sleep well, Noctis Lucis Caelum._ ’

As soon as Noctis saw that the killer knew his _fucking_ **_name_ **, he promptly ran to the bathroom and vomited.


	2. The Man In Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis meets his father's eccentric colleague for the first time.

**** Noctis awoke the feeling of Umbra nudging his snout around his face, pawing and whining. At first, Noctis merely grumbled and slid out of bed to let Umbra out, before he then recalled last night’s events.

Umbra skid out of his room as he almost ripped the door off its hinges. Noctis flew out in a panic, tripping over his dog as he raced down two flights of stairs to check if everything was intact.

All was well. 

There was no uprooted furniture, no missing valuables and thankfully, he saw the outline of his father in the hallway. Thank  _ gods _ .

After Noctis had received the disturbing message from Adagium at three in the morning, he had thrown up in fear. After hacking out what little dinner he’d eaten, he made a task of shutting his computer down, turning off all the routers and locking every single window in the house. Since it was quite a large house, he was only certain everything was secure an hour later. Never in his entire life had Noctis been so  _ terrified _ . How the fuck had that psycho found him? He had the best VPN money could buy! Not even the government could trace him, so how had Adagium found his private email? More importantly, how in the living hell did he know his  _ name _ ?

He hadn’t slept much. He spent the rest of the night clinging onto Umbra, sobbing into his fur, and considering how tired he felt he must have only gotten an hour or two of sleep.

Regis turned to him, phone to his ear. “Ah, Noctis. You’re up early.”

It was eleven o’clock. That was early by Noctis’ standards. He blew out a shaky breath, struggling to compose himself before his dad started asking questions. No way in hell he’d ever admit to what he’d seen lest he receive a clip to the head.

“Y-yeah, couldn’t sleep much.”

Since Regis was in the middle of starting a phone call, Noctis skulked over to the kitchen and started digging through the cupboards. He was starving after losing his last meal, but he only grabbed some bread to make toast to not further upset his stomach. 

Umbra had returned from doing his business outside and sat by the kitchen table. He had been a tad irritated last night since Noctis hadn’t let him sleep either, yet he remained loyal as always. Noctis kept one hand on his head as he scrolled through his phone after chewing on his toast.

Two missed phone calls from Ignis. Huh, weird. There was no voicemail left, so Noctis dialed his number.

Ignis picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Noct. Sorry to call you before noon, but I need a hand.”

“What’s up?”

“My router’s blown. I need a spare, however nobody around here has one. I don’t suppose you could lend me one of yours until I can buy a new one? I know it’s short notice but I can’t afford to go without internet—university work, and all.”

Noctis finished his toast quickly, standing up. “Yeah, sure, no prob. I’ll just go ask my dad to give me a lift over. See you in half.”

Disconnecting one of his wouldn’t be a problem. Even though he was still wary about last night, Noctis did his best to push down the feelings. It was a prank. He didn’t know for sure if that whole stream had been real or not, but surely that guy was fucking with him. He wished he’d never paid the fucking money in the first place. He should have called it a night at the first mention of payment. Well, he’d just have to put faith in his home’s excellent security system. There were cameras outside as well as a nine foot tall fence. Dashing upstairs to get his clothes, Noctis pulled on his shorts and a fresh shirt before coming back to his dad about to leave the house.

“Dad? Where are you going?” he asked, watching Regis struggle to get his tie on. It was the weekend. He should have no reason to be in his work clothes.

“Work problem,” he said. “Why?”

“I need a lift to Ignis’. He needs one of my spare routers for university.”

Regis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t, Noctis. Must you go over now? Can’t it wait for tomorrow?”

“But he says he needs it now!”

Since he was more on edge than he usually would be, Regis appeared taken aback. Noctis forced his shoulders to relax. He was still jittery from his bad night’s sleep and last night’s events. Really, he didn’t want to be in the house at all. Upon seeing the desperation on his face, Regis checked his phone.

“Well, I have a colleague who owes me a favour. I’ll give him a ring to see if he can take you.”

Noctis gave him a friendly punch on the arm. “Thanks, Dad.”

His father gave him a glare— not necessarily one of annoyance, it coming across on the lines of  _ don’t push your luck, boy _ . Noctis rocked on his heels, waiting impatiently for his dad to dial whatever colleague he meant. His phone rang four times, and Regis was about to give up before they answered on the last call. 

“Ah, Ardyn, my apologies for the short notice…”

It trailed off into boring small talk. Noctis got his shoes on in advance. If the guy said no, he’d see about walking. Ignis’ house was half an hour away by car though he could probably make it there on foot in a few hours. Umbra could use a walk, anyway. However, Regis came back into the kitchen as he pocketed his phone.

“You’re in luck. He can come. Give him five minutes to get here and remember to give him petrol money.”

He stuck a fistful of cash on the countertop. Noctis shoved it in his shirt pocket and gave him another word of thanks. Regis was out the door soon after, leaving his son behind. The dog padded up to him and Noctis decided to take him outside as they waited. It was another sunny day, and their garden was more than big enough for Umbra to stretch his legs if he so wished. 

It was more like a castle garden than anything else. Its outskirts lined by maple trees, Noctis took shelter under the one closest to the gate. There was a bench, but since it faced away from the road, he sat on the grass. He’d already given Ignis a text of confirmation, which his friend was very grateful for. Ignis always helped him out with getting the best VPNs and anti-virus software for his computer so it was the least he could do. It wasn’t as if Ignis didn’t have the money, considering he lived in another posh neighbourhood, but no matter how much money you had you couldn’t pay for immediate posting. The fastest anything would arrive in the mail would be two days.

Noctis fiddled with his phone until he heard the sound of an engine revving. Was this his ride?

He’d never actually met any of Dad’s colleagues. His office building was a few miles away in the centre of town, and he wouldn’t let Noctis go anywhere near it. Impressions and all. So when a cherry-red sports car with a white stripe pulled up on the curb, he couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. Gods, how  _ tacky _ . In the driver’s seat sat a man dressed in a dark coat—odd choice of clothing in this sort of weather. Noctis suddenly felt uneasy about getting into a stranger’s car, though if his dad knew him, then it was probably fine.

The man—Ardyn—met him at the gate.

“Ah, hello there,” he purred, giving him a nod. “You must be Regis’ fetching son.”

“Sure, hi. Thanks for giving me a lift.” 

Noctis looked him up and down. Ardyn was pretty tall, maybe almost as tall as Gladio. His suit was all black and so was his outer coat. His hair, a deep maroon, contrasted with his pale skin. He didn’t look like the type of man Regis would work with.

Ardyn shook his head and held a hand up. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

A loud barking cut their short conversation off. Umbra had bounded forwards and was standing at the gate, yapping incessantly. Strange, he’d never acted like  _ that _ before. He’d always been fairly docile. While Noctis jumped at the loud noise, Ardyn gave them a thin smile.

“Is this your dog?”

“Yeah, this is Umbra,” said Noctis as he wrestled to get him under control. 

He snarled when Ardyn came closer and snapped his jaws when he tried to pet him. Ardyn snatched his hand back and took a few steps backwards. “Oh, my. Looks like he’s not fond of me.”

Noctis shoved Umbra back inside the gates and locked it. “Gods! Sorry, he’s never done that before. Maybe he’s just bored.”

Umbra sure as hell didn’t look bored. He paced behind the gate, baring his fangs. Ardyn didn’t seem too upset and wandered back around to the driver’s side. Noctis hopped in next to him, giving Umbra a warning glare as he shut the door. His dog scrabbled at the gate though was helpless to do anything as Ardyn started the car and put it into drive, making a three point turn in front of the estate. Noctis felt kind of bad for leaving Umbra in the lurch like that, but what could he do about him barking? He was usually such a friendly dog.

“Ardor Lane, then?” inquired Ardyn smoothly. As Noctis nodded, he made a right at the end of the road. “You may call me Ardyn.”

Well, that introduction was out of nowhere. Noctis blinked. “I’m Noctis.”

He missed a small smirk tugging at the corner of Ardyn’s lips. “So I’ve been told.”

Things quickly got kind of awkward. For a long time, Ardyn said nothing, merely concentrating on driving while Noctis played with his phone. He felt sick if he looked down for too long so he was forced to keep his head raised.

He tried to make some more conversation in an attempt to dull the tension. “So how long have you worked for my dad?”

“Hm, I dare say five years now,” said Ardyn. “I am one of his business managers.”

“Cool. He wants me to go into the company too, actually, if I don’t choose a degree.”

Ardyn flicked his golden eyes over to glance at him. “Do you want to?”

Noctis shrugged. “I mean, not really. Business isn’t my thing.”

The man hummed to himself, seemingly sounding like a broken tune before it cut off. He spent the next 15 minutes detailing what exactly he did at work upon Noctis’ request. Noctis didn’t actually care, but it was better than sitting in silence. 

Seeing Ignis’ house was a blessing. He jumped out as soon as Ardyn pulled over, giving him the instruction to wait a few minutes. Ignis was already at the front door.

“Here’s the router,” Noctis said as he passed over the box. 

“Thanks a million. Sorry I couldn’t come to you; Mother has my car.” He quickly went inside for a moment to make sure everything was actually packed up safely. Ignis took apart the box’s contents, and after surveying what he needed, he gave Noctis a nod. “That’s everything.”

“Alright, well I gotta get going. Ride’s waiting for me.”

“Don’t you want to invite your father in?”

“It’s not him, it’s one of his colleagues.”

Ignis raised a brow and took a peek past the front door. Ardyn had stepped out of his car in the meantime and was reading a book while leaning against the side. Why he chose to wear a full suit (in black, no less) in the middle of summer was beyond strange. However, Noctis supposed he couldn’t talk. His entire outfit was black, too. It was a nice colour, if it counted. He bid Ignis farewell and left the drive way. He didn’t particularly fancy spending another 30 minutes in the car with Ardyn, but he couldn’t let the man wait any longer. Just driving here and back added up to an hour.

Ardyn had stopped reading and was now gazing around the neighbourhood when Noctis came to join him.

“Lovely view,” he murmured.

The drive back began tedious. Noctis kept trying to ask him questions, although Ardyn seemed more interested in what he had to say. He would bounce back and forth between being a complete conversation narcissist to being... rather charismatic. He listened well, and even when Noctis began to drone on about his video games, Ardyn would smile and nod with interest. 

It felt kind of nice. His dad would never listen to him this long. Noctis loved his dad and all, and didn’t blame him for getting bored of his blabbering, but it was nice to unload and have someone just pay attention.

Umbra was still prowling around in the garden by the time they returned. He growled when they got out of the car.

“Here’s the gas money,” Noctis said as he offered the cash Regis had left for him.

Ardyn appeared almost hurt by the offer. “Goodness, no, I could not accept. I was simply doing my boss a favour. It was no trouble.”

“You sure?” Noctis weighed the money in his hands. “He’s not gonna miss it or anything.”

“I am positive.”

The teen chewed on his lip. “Well, uh, want a coffee instead?”

He couldn’t believe he was actually giving him the choice. Noctis hated small talk over drinks, but Ardyn was alright. He was funny, when he wanted to be, and Noctis still needed to talk about the latest game he’d been obsessing over.

To his surprise, Ardyn smiled. “That would be kind of you, yes.”

Umbra followed them right into the kitchen at a few paces behind. With Noctis present, he wouldn’t dare attack, yet the deep rumble of a snarl in his throat was enough to make Ardyn shoot glares at the dog from the corner of his eye. Once he sat at the table, Umbra seated himself in front of the door and bared his teeth. 

Noctis stood up, exasperated. “Okay, Umbra,  _ out _ .”

He took Umbra by the collar and dragged him out of the kitchen and into the living room. He closed the door, feeling kind of bad, but he couldn’t just let him bark at a guest like that. He’d let him out when Ardyn left.

Upon returning to the kitchen, he fired up the coffee machine. Since they used pods instead of manually making it, Ardyn requested a cappuccino and Noctis put on a latte for himself. He wasn’t a big coffee drinker, though one was okay now and again. Ardyn took his and watched as Noctis grabbed a bottle of caramel and drizzled it over the top of his drink. Coffee wasn’t good unless it was sweet as hell.

He stood up instead of sitting considering he’d been in the car for the past hour. He swirled his spoon in his latte before Ardyn spoke up again.

“You own quite a lot of electronics.”

His gaze was pointed at the second living room to the left of the kitchen. While Regis kept the house pristine, a computer was left in its box along with some of Noctis’ old consoles—ready to be thrown out.

“We’re getting rid of those ones,” replied Noctis. “My main computer is in my room.”

Ardyn’s eyes gleamed. 

“You dabble in computers?”

Noctis nodded proudly. “Yup, and you?”

He laughed heartily. “Oh, no. I’ve never been one for technology. What do you do on your computer, then?”

Thoughts of his nightly activities came to mind. Noctis was excited, ready to ramble to someone new about his web surfing hobby, before last night came flooding back. The images of fingers been cut off, the screaming, the haunting chuckle of the killer— _ horrible _ . He repressed a shudder from the memory, but it seemed like Ardyn had noticed his disturbed expression. He said nothing, however.

“Lots of stuff, but I like, uh… seeing what weird stuff I can find online, I guess?”

“ _ Really _ ?” Ardyn’s lips curled up into a smirk.

An embarrassed blush dusted Noctis’ cheeks when he realised how bad that sounded. “No, oh gods, I didn’t mean it like that—”

“Just teasing,” said Ardyn. His smug smile never disappeared, even as he raised his glass to his face. He listened quietly to Noctis explaining more about what products he owned, ranging from his expensive gaming PC to his various routers to the software he had downloaded. His beast of a computer could run pretty much anything thanks to Ignis’ help. He had to explain what certain words meant, considering Ardyn claimed to only own a seven year old laptop which he barely knew how to use, though the man was intelligent enough to get what he was saying.

20 minutes had passed when they finished. Had so much time really gone by just like that? Funny. Noctis never imagined he’d actually end up enjoying talking to one of his dad’s colleagues. Everyone he worked with sounded boring as fuck.

Ardyn stood. Noctis gathered their glasses and threw them in the sink. 

“I must thank you for allowing me to stay, your house is quite wonderful.”

“I’ll be sure to let my dad know.”

“Do give him my regards,” said Ardyn, nodding politely as Noctis showed him out. He had good timing, seeing as Umbra was whining and scratching at the living room door. 

Noctis went to open it after Ardyn was safely out and back in his car. His pet raced to the window and began barking, but the man had already left.

“What’s your problem, you stupid dog?” Noctis growled as he wrestled Umbra to the floor. To his enormous surprise, Umbra whipped his head around and bared his fangs at  _ him _ . He’d  _ never _ done that before. Feeling a bit betrayed, Noctis allowed Umbra to skulk off somewhere else as he headed back upstairs. Fine, he’d just keep  _ himself _ company.

His room had remained untouched since he left it. He cautiously crept towards his computer, having not gone near it since last night. It scared him, but he needed to go on it at  _ some _ point.

It booted up like normal. There was the usual loading screen, and his group selfie desktop after he’d inputted his password. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The email that lunatic had sent was still there, so after staring at the cryptic message for what felt like hours, Noctis decided to run some tests.

Now, this was more of Ignis’ forte, though Noctis had learned a thing or two from him. 

As expected, the IP address was untrackable. Noctis blew air through his nose as he pondered his next action. He then looked at the mail server, but anywhere an IP address would be listed in the header was blank. That was fair enough. Noctis would also use a VPN whenever he went online, and so did everyone with a brain on the deep web. When the basics failed, Noctis rooted around in his programme files to find anything that could do the job more thoroughly. Any tool that presented itself as an ‘instant hacking device’ or ‘failsafe tracking software’ was always too good to be true, but thanks to Ignis, Noctis had a few that worked in some situations.

Again, this also failed.

Nocts gave up and closed the email tab. He did not delete whatever he’d been sent just in case, yet he tried his best to put it out of his mind. It was a joke. It wasn’t real. They’d done it to freak him out and clearly had great tracking software. Still, Noctis avoided opening Crown and went on a normal browser instead. He did the usual—browsing Facebook and all his other social medias, going through his subscription list on YouTube and then finally going to check his messages. 

The group chat (dubbed, ‘The Chocobros’) had been active in the morning before he was with Ardyn. There were quite a lot of messages, so Noctis scrolled up lazily with his chin resting on his hand.

It started with Prompto. As the poor kid had gotten confused, they forfeited nicknames and just used their actual names.

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ lmfaooo guys my dads weird friend came over XD _

**_Gladio Amicitia:_ ** _ who? _

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ uh someone hes known for ages?? just kinda showed up. like i guess hes ok but hes highkey weird. was wearing some black suit in this crazy weather, dude must be boiling _

**_Ignis Scientia:_ ** _ Sounds like the fellow Noctis was with. _

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ wait wat?? :O who was noct with? thought he wuz over yours _

**_Ignis Scientia:_ ** _ He came by to drop off a router but it wasn’t his father with him. It was a man with red hair and a black suit. In a magenta sports car, I might add… _

**_Prompto Argentum:_** _:O!!!_ _YOOO that’s the guy!_ ** _@Noctis Lucis Caelum_** _dafuq u doing w him???_

The conversation drifted off onto another topic, mainly about what Ignis was doing for his university course, and it had fallen silent in the last ten minutes. Noctis took the opportunity to get back to Prompto. What, so Ardyn knew Prompto’s dad too? 

Noctis had only been over Prompto’s house once, not having met his father in person. He lived a few streets over, notably in a less wealthy neighbourhood. Not that he was dirt poor or anything, though he and his dad were Niflheim immigrants and that didn’t get them the best jobs. Prompto never complained or held anything against his three friends for having more money, which was what made him  _ easily  _ the nicest. He was personification of everything good and pure in this world. Not that his father was nice himself, but so far Noctis had been spared from him.

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _ oh it was one of dad’s colleagues giving me a lift. _

Prompto was quick to respond.

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ wow he works for ur dad? :// weird i just thought he was some hobo who managed to get good clothes and somehow my dad was friends with him XDXD _

Okay, as nice as Ardyn was, Noctis had to chuckle at that one. The man had been sharply dressed but his hair was so wild that Noctis saw how Prompto got that impression. Then again, what homeless person owned a sports car?

Before he could say anything else, Gladio’s speech bubble popped up.

**_Gladio Amicitia:_ ** _ whatd he say? _

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ dunno i was in my room. just boring catch up talk i think _

**_Gladio Amicitia:_ ** _ u never hav any good stories _

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ WELL when i went downstairs for a drink he called me a “fine young man” LMAO XD kinda creeped me out but w/e _

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _ lol funny, he called me “fetching” when we met. _

**_Prompto Argentum:_ ** _ :O _

Weird. Did Ardyn have a thing for young men? He, uh, kind of looked like the type, Noctis thought with a grimace. He hoped that wasn’t the case because the fact he’d sat in his car for an hour and then invited him in for coffee just became super weird. He didn’t necessarily give off any creep vibes, though he  _ was _ a bit odd. It was the way he spoke—old-fashioned and elegant, as if he were straight out of a two century old novel. He walked with a swagger that you would never see from your typical businessman, and there was the matter of his dark attire in such hot weather.

Noctis shrugged and tried to let it go. Dad would probably be mad at him for judging people on their appearance, anyway. Ardyn was nice enough to give him a free lift, so it wasn’t good to make fun of him.

Their group chat slid off the subject and back onto daily life. They spoke of Ignis’ coursework once more, and Gladio said Iris was having a sleepover and he wasn’t looking forward to spending to the night with a bunch of teenage girls. Still, always the cool older brother, he’d never let on any negative feelings. Prompto had then whined about wanting a sibling to keep him company. Noctis preferred his only child life but he saw the appeal. Having a younger brother or maybe sister sounded fun.

Until he remembered how Iris would wail for Gladio’s attention 24/7 when she was younger, and decided against it. Nah, better to be on his own.

The afternoon slowly trickled away into evening, and by the time Noctis got up to stretch it was dinner time. Then, he realised, that his father had not come home.

His heart began to beat a little faster. The memories of that hopefully fake murder cropped back up—sending Noctis into a light frenzy as he ran downstairs. No, his father had not come home while he was on his computer. He never stayed in work this long. He would  _ always _ be back by five.

The windows and doors were locked, just as he’d left them. Noctis ran from room to room, wanting to find something as evidence of that psycho breaking in, yet there was nothing.

Everything was fine. Everything was normal, except for his dad being missing.

Noctis scrambled for his phone. His heart leapt up to his mouth and his breathing became rapid as he desperately pressed his ear closer to hear the ringing. One ring, two rings,  _ three _ rings—

“What is it, Noctis? I was driving.”

Thank the Six.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I was wondering when you’d get back.”

There was a pause and he thought he heard Regis sigh. “Yes, I got a little held up at work. I’m on my way home now. I’ll see you in five.”

He suddenly felt a little stupid. Noctis put his phone aside and clambered into the living room, throwing himself down on the sofa. Gods, he wished he’d never done that shit last night. It was going to fuck him up for the next month. He’d never been this unsettled by a snuff video before. It was probably the fact it was ‘seemingly’ streamed live, and while he had been convinced at the time, he did everything in his power to convince himself it was faked. It had to be.  _ It had to be _ .

As he’d promised, Regis returned five minutes later. Umbra had crept out from his hiding place to greet him at the door, wagging his tail happily.

Regis stooped to give Umbra a scratch. Well, at least he was in a better mood than he was earlier. Why he’d gone and growled at Ardyn like that was a mystery.

“Hey,” said Noctis.

“Evening, Noct. Did Ardyn manage to give you that lift?”

“Yeah. He dropped me off no problem. He wouldn’t take the money but I invited him in for coffee if that’s alright.”

His dad frowned at the cash Ardyn had declined though put it back into his wallet nonetheless.

“Ah, that man, always too generous for his own good. Well, as long as you offered, I won’t press it further.” He looked around the kitchen. “I’d better get dinner on.”

As they ate their food once it was ready, Noctis sneaked some scraps to Umbra under the table. The dog was often well-behaved and learned not to beg, but he just loved chicken. His puppy eyes were unbearable to withstand, so Noctis was very careful not to be noticed. Regis was pretty protective of him and hated it when his diet was tampered with. ‘ _ Human food should be reserved for humans _ ’ he always snapped. 

But how could he resist such a cute face? 

Noctis pulled out his phone when he’d finished. “Fancy a game of King’s Knight?”

Regis arched a greying eyebrow. “Thought you’d be more interested in going back to your computer.”

“I mean, I dunno, I’m bored of it now. Plus I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Sorry, son. I’m exhausted. How about tomorrow, since it’s Sunday?”

Ah, well. That was what he got for always holing himself in his room. Noctis gave his dad an understanding smile and helped him wash up. After he’d taken Umbra for a quick walk around the block, he returned to his room.

Umbra sat on his bed as he thought about what to do. His room had plenty of entertainment but it all seemed so tedious now. 

He settled for staring at his crystal collection. Gladio had called it a girly hobby, yet it was one of the few things besides computers and fishing that Noctis liked. Upon his shelf were a range of expensive geode examples, ranging from amethyst to raw emerald. His absolute favourite was a massive hunk of azurite he’d gotten for his last birthday. 

It was pretty enormous. Reaching almost three feet in height, it was the star jewel of his room other than his computer. He had no idea what was so hypnotising about it. Noctis often found himself staring into its concaved centre—almost being sucked into it—and marvelling at how it faded from dark blue to magenta. Girly as it may be, Noctis thought it looked pretty damn badass. He wanted to hold it up with chains to be dramatic, but his dad made him put it on the floor. No matter. It still looked cool.

As he gazed at the light reflecting off the blue shards, his phone buzzed. Noctis picked it up to receive a private message from Prompto.

_ yoo me and my dad got into an argument again, im out for a walk and its hella spooky out here _

_ why you out walking at 7pm, dude? _

_ omg u have no idea what its like when my dads in a bad mood _

Eh, that was fair. Prompto’s dad sounded like a nightmare from what the blond had told them in some of their angsty late night chats. He’d never get that emotional on the group chat, fearing he was bugging the others, though Noctis always gave him an ear when he wanted to vent. 

_ what did you even argue about? _

_ school XD _

_ i know how that feels. _

There was a brief pause. Noctis frowned until he saw the typing bubble pop back up.

_ ever feel like ur being followed lmao _

_ yeah, because i’m a celebrity. B) _

_ a pompous celebrity. anyway i’ll stop bugging u and let u know how it goes when i get home. talk in like an hour or somethin _

_ sure, prom _

Poor kid. Now Noctis wished he had the sibling he’d always wanted to keep him company. Then again, there was always the risk of being ganged up on. While he never saw much of his relatives, his second and third cousins had been twats whenever they met. Maybe Prompto was better off with only one shitty family member.

It was still way too early to go to bed, but Noctis didn’t fancy going back on his computer. At this time he’d be straight back on the dark web, however he just… didn’t want to. Thus, he settled for watching gaming videos on his phone until he fell asleep, Umbra curling up next to him.

* * *

Prompto had only recently sent his last few messages to Noctis when he felt a sudden chill.

It was a fairly decent evening, but the heat had faded rapidly, bringing the autumn chill as it left. The leaves had started turning brown though it was still a long way from September. Prompto whistled to himself, hands in his pockets, as he walked down the dirt path.

While he didn’t want to linger around outside, he didn’t want to stay a moment longer in his house. His dad was a massive prick when it came to school. It was always, ‘ _ do this, do that, you’ll go into the subject I’ve chosen for you _ ’. It was stifling. Prompto had slammed the door with a shut and made for the nearby forest. Well, it was a hiking path rather than an actual forest, but the trees provided some nice shade. He and Noctis had hung out here in their early teens. These days they preferred the park since it was more convenient, yet Prompto missed the old days. Nothing beat falling off trees and almost breaking their limbs.

When he shuddered, he initially thought it was the breeze. He wished he’d brought a jacket with sleeves. He absentmindedly rubbed his freckled arms.

After blaming it on the weather, Prompto was completely caught off guard when a hand wrapped around his mouth.

He let out a muffled scream before being slammed into a tree. Head spinning, he struggled in vain while a stranger chuckled against his ear.

“Oh, poor Prompto, what a horrible fate you’ve been subjected to,” they crooned. It was a man with a silky and elegant voice, one that Prompto was  _ sure _ he’d heard before but couldn’t quite put a finger on it due to his immense fear. “You wouldn’t have to go through this if it weren’t for your idiotic friend.”

“Let me  _ go _ ,” he muttered against the gloved hand. He went to kick out a leg, though was thrown backwards before he could do any damage. 

Okay, he was free, he could—

His vision blacked out into an explosion of stars when something hard collided against his skull. Crumpling to the ground in a heap, Prompto drifted off to a lullaby of deranged laughter.


	3. Hanged Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Prompto's father states that Prompto has gone missing, Noctis is hit with a sudden wave of worry.

**** Umbra tugged at the rope between his teeth and Noctis’ fist, letting out a low whine as he was playfully dragged across the floor. Noctis was about to pull it towards him, but suddenly let go at the last second. Umbra was sent flying back with a yelp.

“Haha! Bamboozled!” Noctis laughed as his dog raced back into his lap. He dug his fingers into Umbra’s thick fur as he was licked in the face.

Prompto had never gotten back to him last night. It was kind of out of character for him, and he had not replied when Noctis sent a message to check if he was alright. He had to assume he’d forgotten and gone straight to sleep. Still, it had gone midday, and Prompto was usually up by now. Maybe things hadn’t gone well with his dad and he’d resigned himself to an early night and late start. Noctis supposed he could understand.

So he was startled out of his skin when a horrifically loud knock thumped on the front door.

Umbra immediately began to bark, and Noctis decided to answer it to save his dad the trouble of walking. Bad leg, and all. Though whoever it could be was a mystery. It was Sunday—which meant no mail. Ignis and Gladio always messaged before they called over, and they wouldn’t knock so aggressively. Perhaps someone had the wrong house.

Noctis had to shut Umbra out in order to answer the door in peace. As predicted, it was someone he didn’t recognise.

“You!” a man snarled, jabbing a finger of accusation at him. “Where’s Prompto?!”

He wasn’t much taller than him, yet he squared up as if Noctis had barged into  _ his _ house. Strands from his slicked back blond hair had fallen into his face in his fury, and the hand at his side was clenched into a fist. Whoever he was, he was  _ pissed _ . Despite the attempt at intimidation, Noctis stood his ground and scowled.

“And who the hell are you?”

The man scoffed. “Don’t play dumb, I know you’re one of his friends. So where is he?”

“Why do you want to know?” Noctis bit back sharply.

“Because I’m his  _ father _ .”

Before Noctis could take in his answer, Regis appeared from the hallway. Since he had the day off he was wearing his casuals—a white shirt rolled up to his elbows and dark slacks—yet he still gave off his businessman aura.

“Verstael?”

Prompto’s apparent father folded his arms with a frown. “Regis. Care to tell me where my son is?”

Noctis glanced between them. They knew each other? He’d been skeptical at first, but this Verstael  _ did _ look a lot like Prompto. Same freckles and all. Except Prompto was a kitten and this man was a prowling lion. Still, if Noctis hadn’t met him, then why did Regis know his name? 

His dad was unamused. “Why would we know where Prompto is? Is he not at your house?”

“The little knave stormed out after an argument last night. He didn’t come back, so I assumed he stayed the night with you.”

“He didn’t come back?” Noctis said.

Verstael turned his gaze to the side and growled. “No. Such an insolent child. He needs to be dragged home!”

Ugh, no wonder Prompto had left. Noctis raised an eyebrow at the man’s bad attitude and walked away. Regis could do a better job of handling him seeing as he worked with all kinds of people, from kind to downright miserable. Unfortunately for Prompto, his father fell into the latter category. Verstael seemed to take a step back when Regis barred the doorway. His scowl did not fade but he realised he had approached too suddenly.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but he is not here. Noctis, have you heard from him?” Regis suddenly asked. Noctis jumped at his request.

“Not since he messaged me last night. Said he’d gone out for a walk after the argument. He then said he’d message me when he got home though he never replied.”

From where he stood, Noctis swore he saw a flash of worry in Verstael’s eyes, but it could have just been the light. 

“I assume you’ve tried phoning him?” said Regis.

“Yes,” said Verstael. “He’s not answering.”

“I’ll check in with Iggy and Gladio,” Noctis added, fumbling for his phone. Satisfied with that, Regis turned back to their unannounced visitor.

“I will contact you if we hear from him. If he doesn’t return by tonight then I suggest calling the police.”

Verstael gave him an incredulous look. “The police? What are they going to do for a Niflheim immigrant? Have you forgotten my circumstance, Regis?”

Noctis could see his point. The Lucian police were by in no means bad at their job, but they were a tad… biased at times. Tenebraean folk were treated decently enough though the Niffs got by badly. Some of them deserved their bad rep, and despite that, Prompto was a nice kid, and it was sad to see him suffer the same treatment. Noctis didn’t know much about his father, but he didn’t matter to him. He couldn’t vouch for if the police would be willing to do a proper investigation or not. He just had to hope Prompto had stayed the night with someone else and his phone battery had died.

Regis spent a long time staring at Verstael. The two men locked gazes, neither giving up eye contact. Noctis waited, tense, until his father eventually spoke.

“No, I haven’t, but there’s nothing you or I can do in the meantime.”

Displeased, Verstael huffed through gritted teeth and turned on his heel. He did not bother saying goodbye. Regis sighed and shut the door as soon as he left.

“What a  _ lovely _ man,” Noctis commented sarcastically.

“Indeed.” There was another silence as Regis thought. “You don’t know where Prompto is, do you, Noct?”

“No. I swear I’d say if I did. He didn’t get back to me. It’s weird for him.”

Once he was dismissed, Noctis returned to his room, Umbra close at his heels. He probably wanted more play time yet Noctis couldn’t get rid of the thought that Prompto  _ might _ be in trouble. Not that the kid put himself into danger, though there was the matter of his texts from last night. It was the start of every cliche horror movie. A walk in the woods ending up in a mysterious disappearance. _Fuck_ , Noctis thought as he leapt for his computer. Perhaps Ignis and Gladio had any clue to his whereabouts.

Thankfully, they were both online. Not much to do on a Sunday, after all. They weren’t engaged in conversation, so Noctis pulled both of them up separately.

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _ yo, u heard from prom? his dad showed up at our house asking where he was. _

There was a pause as his messages were marked as read. Ignis was the first to respond.

**_Ignis Scientia:_ ** _ Not since yesterday. Did something happen? _

**_Gladio Amicitia:_ ** _ no, y? _

Brilliant. That complicated matters. Noctis took a glance at Prompto’s profile. He had not been active since around seven last night, which was the time he had texted to say he was on that walk. Noctis pulled up his phone and sent him a message, asking if he was alright. He was usually more active on the group chat, but maybe he didn’t have access to the internet. 

He then got back to the other two.

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _ he went out for a walk last night but didn’t come back? _

**_Ignis Scientia:_ ** _ Well, that is a worry. I’ll have a drive around to look for him, if you’d like to come. _

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _ sounds good. i’ll let gladio know. _

With the plan set in motion, Noctis went and grabbed his jacket. As he got his shoes on, Umbra padded over and whined. Looks like he was still lonely. Well… he was never a fuss in the car, and he hadn’t been for a walk today. Grabbing Umbra’s lead, Noctis clipped it to his collar and lead him downstairs. Maybe he could sniff Prompto out or something. He was always clever like that.

To his enormous surprise, there was another visitor. Regis stood, back turned towards Noctis to speak to a man in the kitchen. Umbra’s vicious growl quickly alerted Noctis to who it was.

“Yes, yes, it was a tragedy. My deepest condolences.”

Ardyn peered past Regis’ shoulder and threw him a smile. Regis then turned. “Noctis. Where are you off to now?”

The teen looked between them. “I, uh, we’re going to go out and search for Prompto. Why is Ardyn here?”

His father’s face saddened, deep lines creasing his forehead. “It is… that time of year.”

Noctis felt his heart sink. “You mean… Luna?”

Of course. How could he forget? Clutched in his free hand was his phone, and upon reading it Noctis caught sight of the date. It was April the 24th. Horrible memories spilled forth, rivalling that of what he had witnessed on the dark web two days ago. 

Lunafreya had been his closest childhood friend. A beautiful young girl who had hair of spun gold and a smile that could make the sun dark in comparison. While they had lived quite a way apart, they would meet up several times a year. Regis and Luna’s mother had been close after the death of Noctis’ mother and thus the two children became close themselves as a result.

She died. 

Eight years ago today, poor Luna had been found with a vicious stab wound in her abdomen. Nobody knew why. Nobody knew who committed such an act. The only thing that was clear was that it was a violent death that shook the Nox Fleuret family to its core, never to recover. Noctis was aware Luna had an older brother but he had been out of contact since the incident. Umbra shook against his lead, bringing Noctis’ attention back to him. Umbra was never originally his dog. He had belonged to Luna as a puppy. He believed they had another dog, though two had just been too much for them at the time, thus Umbra ended up in the Lucis Caelum household.

So why was Ardyn here? Noctis forced a smile regardless of the strangeness of the situation. The man was still dressed in his long black coat, seemingly like he became prepared to mourn but Noctis knew that was how he normally dressed.

“Ardyn came to visit. He was familiar with the Nox Fleuret family once. We will be sending flowers to her grave, but you can go and look for Prompto if you want,” said Regis. 

Noctis felt torn; he wanted to go, yet he was also worried about Prompto. Eventually he sighed. “Well, can you take her some from me?”

His father nodded. “Of course, son.”

Ardyn tipped his hat as Noctis left the door, stepping well out of Umbra’s range. While the dog snarled, he did not try and bite like he had before.

Ignis arrived 20 minutes later. Gladio was already with him, sat in the front seat. Noctis clambered into the back and made sure Umbra was comfortable before he gave them the signal to drive on.

“Why’d you bring your dog?” Gladio asked.

“He needed a walk, plus maybe he can help.”

“Fair enough.”

Ignis pushed his glasses up his nose as he then began to drive again. “As long as you clean up after him.”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, obviously.”

They began at the park. Umbra bounded out and made a lap around the green field, but Prompto was nowhere to be seen. The entire place was deserted besides from one couple towards the back with their own dog. When Umbra came back, Ignis frowned and scanned his eyes over the park.

“You’d think Prompto would have stayed here overnight?”

“Naw,” Gladio shook his head, “if he really wanted to ditch his dad he would have asked to stay at one of our places. I know the kid’s polite and all but he wouldn’t hesitate to ask.”

That was true enough. There had been more than one occasion Prompto had bunked with one of them after a fight with his father. Usually he’d come to Noctis’ since he was the closest, though if he was already out then Ignis would often take him back to his place. 

So why had he not said anything? Had he actually slept outside? It was so unlike him to be so quiet. He was the chattiest of all of them! 

When they couldn’t find anything else, they piled back into Ignis’ car and made off towards Prompto’s neighbourhood. It wasn’t much, yet it was all they had to work with.

Noctis shuddered when they arrived. He knew there were far,  _ far _ worse places to live other than Aurum Street, but the sight of rundown gardens and shady looking men skulking around made his skin crawl. The houses were joined together in terraces or doubles. Since they all appeared the same, they had a bit of trouble finding Prompto’s house, though they recalled he lived at number six, which was all the way at the other end of the street.

It seemed barren. The garden was fairly neat compared to the rest and the car was in a lot better shape than they had initially expected. Prompto’s dad never drove him anywhere, so this was their first time seeing it. 

“Do we, uh, knock or something?” Gladio asked as they stepped out.

“Wouldn’t recommend it. His dad’s a lunatic. Plus he already told us that he didn’t know where Prompto was and that he’d disappeared after their argument,” Noctis said.

That left them with the option of exploring beyond Aurum Street. 

“Oh, hey!” Noctis suddenly piped up when he saw the trees in the near distance. “What about the woods? We used to hang out there all the time in middle school. I bet that’s where Prompto was headed.”

“That sounds wise,” said Ignis.

The woods were as barren as the park. While it was still mid-August, the trees had began to shimmer a beautiful gold, complimenting the name of ‘Aurum Street’ very well. Umbra padded along the walkway of fallen leaves and since he was beginning to tug at his lead, Noctis let him loose. He’d always come back if he called, anyway. Umbra scampered off to chase a rogue leaf.

As the trees blotted out the sun at certain parts, the woods were actually quite cold. No wonder Prompto had described them as ‘spooky’. They certainly would be in the late evening, summer or no.

“Why would he come all the way out here?” Gladio muttered as he shivered, arms bare to show off his eagle tattoo.

The answer remained unknown. The trio kept to the main path as Umbra zigzagged across in all directions. He had his nose pressed to the ground, so Noctis hoped he had caught a scent and was trying to follow it. He knew Prompto well.

When the dog whined suddenly, Noctis sped off the path in search of him.

“Umbra?” he called out. Umbra had wandered quite a way off and was scrabbling in the dirt. It seemed like the main path made a sharp bend around three trees. Noctis jogged forwards to see what Umbra was so interested in before his heart caught in his throat.

A small, black object glinted in the dim light. A phone.

“Uh, guys?”

It was no ordinary phone, either. It was a lot cheaper than the cells they carried around, but Noctis would recognise the chocobo charm anywhere. Kids at school would tease Prompto for having it, yet he refused to take it off.

Noctis picked it up. It was hovering at ten percent, close to dying but his lock screen popped up. It was a selfie of him and a chocobo, taken at a highschool field trip Noctis remembered well. There was a thin crack across the screen, but other than that it didn’t seem damaged. He held onto it as Ignis and Gladio caught up to him.

“What did you find?” Ignis asked. His expression darkened when Noctis showed him. “Oh dear.”

“He wouldn’t just leave his phone on the ground,” Gladio growled. To any other person he might have came off as angry, although his friends knew the rumble in his voice was a sign of anxiety. This behaviour was not normal for Prompto, who would always keep his phone on him and would message as if his life depended on it. Him going a single day without saying anything was weird enough, but this? Something was definitely wrong.

“I can hack into it,” Ignis said. “To see if he received any odd messages.”

“Shouldn’t we tell his dad first?” 

“We’ll return it afterwards. It will only take me a few minutes.”

Ignis carried a bunch of tech equipment in his car. While most of his stuff was at home, he never left his house without his basics. Noctis and Gladio waited outside with Umbra as he dug through the boot and pulled out some bizarre equipment. Ignis could hack in a number of ways, ranging from downloading apps to sending messages, but if he had the actual phone or PC on hand then he just stuck some weird device into it and that was that. Sure got the job done quick.

He would never, ever hack into a friend’s phone like this, and he was actually reluctant to hack into anything without explicit permission, though this was an emergency.

Prompto’s phone opened without complaint. Noctis peered over his shoulder as he first went through the text app. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Just his usual messages to them that they recognised and a whole load of new ones from his father.

_ Prompto, if you don’t come home now I’ll take your phone off you. _

_ Why aren’t you answering? _

_ Stop this childish behaviour and get back here. You are making a big fuss over nothing. _

Pleasant fellow, Noctis thought bitterly. If he were his dad, he’d run away and never look back. There were a total of seven missed calls from him, along with one from his house phone. There were also all of Noctis’ recent texts that he had sent several hours ago.

So he really hadn’t seen any of them. Ignis checked his messenger app only to find some unread messages from the group chat and a couple others from Prompto’s Niflheimian friends. 

“Damn it, kid, where are you?” he heard Gladio mutter. 

“I’d better inform his father,” Ignis said after a moment. Since there was nothing else suspicious, he closed the phone and put all of his equipment back in the car. Great, now was the moment they had all been dreading.

Verstael took a minute to answer the door. When he did, he looked all three of them up and down before a scowl settled on his face.

“Oh, it’s you lot.” He then leaned against the doorway. “Well? Have you seen Prompto?”

Ignis handed him the phone. “No, but we found this in the woods, sir.”

“Why was this in the woods?” Verstael snapped. He dangled the phone between his fingers carelessly.

“He said he’d gone out for a walk there after your argument,” Noctis piped in. “It was lying on the floor.”

An uncomfortable silence passed between them. Noctis could see the gears turning in Verstael’s head as he contemplated his decision, his son’s discarded phone in his trembling hand. After what seemed like hours, he turned and growled to himself.

“That’s it, I’m calling the police.”

And yet he had been so against the idea before. The trio remained behind seeing as they were worried too, and Verstael did not argue against them lingering. He actually ended up inviting them inside as they waited, though it came across as more of a barked order than an offer.

Prompto’s house was pretty small yet it was nicely decorated. Most of the walls were white or gold, with polished wooden flooring. There was little clutter but also few personal items. They clambered into the kitchen as Verstael yelled down the phone, clearly agitated.

The police arrived a tad later than they should have done. Two officers glared at Verstael, arms folded and gazes condescending. They were so much taller than him so they merely watched on as Verstael tried to get his point across.

“And has he been missing for 48 hours?”

“No, he went missing last night at around seven. What does that matter? He’s missing, isn’t he?! It’s your job to get him back!”

The policeman laughed. “Sir, there is nothing we can do until 48 hours have passed. Then you may call back and file a missing person’s report. You sure he just hasn’t run away? You know how teenagers are like.”

As much as Verstael was a pain to deal with, Noctis couldn’t blame him. These officers were chuckling among themselves, not taking the situation seriously at all. Now he could see why he had been so reluctant to contact them in the first place. Why they insisted on waiting 48 hours was ridiculous, though. Prompto could be in serious danger! It was then Noctis stood up to add his own comment to the report.

“I’m sure he didn’t. Prompto always messages back. We found his phone in the woods.”

Giving him a raised eyebrow, the other officer spoke. “You his friend?”

“We all are. We’re  _ worried _ about him.”

The policemen seemingly gave them an expression of pity, presumably because they were Lucian and not Niffs. “Look, call back in a day and we’ll file a report. There really is nothing we can do until then. For now, keep an eye out for him. I’m sure he’ll come back.”

“Bloody useless!” Verstael yelled as they drove away.

“We’ll keep looking,” Ignis said in an attempt to calm him down.

“You’d better! If he’s gone because of you three, then you’ll be  _ sorry _ .”

Once Verstael shooed them out of the house, slamming the door in their faces, they returned to Ignis’ car. Noctis ran a hand through his hair in frustration and Gladio thumped his head against the seat. What a godsdamned mess this all was. Useless police officers and a useless father. Noctis had to wonder what Prompto’s mother would be like in this situation, though all he knew is that his parents had never married and had split up shortly after his birth. Poor Prom.

What now? Ignis suggested they drive around a little more, but since the afternoon was getting on, they knew they wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever. An hour of driving later with still nothing, Ignis began to make his way back to Noctis’ house.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t find him.”

“Huh?” Noctis said. “It’s not your fault, Iggy. No worries, we’ll keep searching tomorrow, and then we can call the cops back.”

Regis was home by the time Noctis was dropped off. Umbra sank to the kitchen floor, tired after his long walk. His father glanced up at him.

“No luck?”

Noctis shook his head. “No. We found his phone in the woods, and his dad called the cops, but they said they couldn’t do anything until tomorrow.”

“That  _ is _ inconvenient,” Regis murmured to himself. “Nonetheless, I’m sure Prompto will be fine. Perhaps he’s staying at another friend’s house.”

He hoped that was the case. 

* * *

The rest of his evening was spent mulling over the situation in his room. Prompto had not come back, no messages or texts sent, meaning he had not returned to his house. Noctis was biting his nails down to the skin as he worked himself up.

What if he was hurt? What if he was tied up in some gang affair? What if he was already dead?

No, he couldn’t think like that. Prompto was a determined guy—he would pull through. If he could get through school, then he could get through anything.

Still avoiding his computer, Noctis tried to absorb himself in a video game, clinging tightly to the controller and face pressed up against the TV screen. If he focused on killing as many robots as possible, then maybe he would turn back to find a message from Prompto, home safe and sound. All he could really do was hope. He didn’t want this to turn into a full fledged search party.

It was around one in the morning before Noctis heard an alert coming from his computer.

He frowned, putting down the controller and wandering over. His messages were empty, so that only meant…

His email.

Breath stuck in his lungs, Noctis moved the mouse to open the most recent message. Some spam had come through since Adagium’s first email, but there his signature blank space resided again at the top. No subject was inputted either, and when Noctis finally found the courage to open it, all it included was a link.

Did he really want to click that? The answer was no, and Noctis was going to ignore it out of pure fear before something just  _ pulled _ him to click it. Not necessarily curiosity, per se, but a ‘what if?’ scenario. What if this was important? What if it meant something?

He only opened it when his VPN was running and Crown had finished loading. He was not going to risk any sort of creepy virus from this psychopath.

The link lead to another stream. Much like the last one, there was a timer ticking down for two hours, meaning it would begin at three. Strangely, the message prompting for money was bypassed. 

Noctis did not want to stick around for this. He did not wish to see another joke—what he hoped was not a real murder. Yet, a horrible feeling sank in the pit of his stomach. He knew, deep down, that something terrible was going to happen, except what? What had Adagium planned now? What was he going to torment him with? 

Since there were two hours to wait, Noctis crept back to his game and continued playing. Not that he could concentrate with that fucking stream leering at him the entire time. He kept glancing back and forth from it to the TV, losing ten games in a row.

The last five minutes were the worst. The chatroom had lit up again, thirsty for blood. Noctis felt sick as he glanced at it.

As expected, Adagium’s white mask appeared in the centre shot of the camera. If his face were visible, he surely would have been smiling. 

“Welcome again, my friends. I am so terribly sorry for cutting short the previous stream, but tonight I have a special treat for you all.”

His voice was grating. Crackly and distorted despite the fairly clear video, it hurt Noctis’ ears as he clamped headphones over his head. If this fucker was somehow out to get him, then he wanted to know what he had to say. Not that the promise of a ‘special treat’ sounded good. Noctis watched with wide eyes as Adagium flauntered back so that half of his body was viewable. It was hard to tell what he looked like underneath so many layers of clothing, and his mask covered everything that would expose his identity. As ridiculous as he looked, it did the job.

He began to speak after a few moments of prolonged silence, body swaying as he thought. He turned his head, showing just how long the beak of his mask was. It curled forward like a talon, buttons badly sewn onto the side.

“Now, this is something a little different from the usual,” he sang in a terrible tune, “but hopefully you will find it amusing. This one goes out to our latest member, the black prince. Do let us know you are watching and waiting!”

Noctis snarled. So this fucker  _ had _ set this up for him. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, wanting to scream how angry he felt, though at the same time he knew he shouldn’t.

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ you’d better not be plotting some fucked up shit. this isnt funny you psycho. _

Adagium laughed heartily at his response. “Why the hostility? I believe you’ll quite like what I have here for you.”

He then sauntered off camera to turn it around. Noctis watched, breathing hard, as the camera swivelled to face some sort of… crucification device. It was a large metal cross, chains holding it up against the wall, yet most disturbingly of all, a person was strapped to it. A person with a mop of blond hair that Noctis so well recognised, freckles darkened in the bad lighting. Prompto was chained to the cross by the wrists and ankles, head hanging limply.

“Prompto!” Noctis squeaked out loud, hands rushing forwards to clutch the screen.

His view was blocked by Adagium once more. “Say hello to our newest guest, Prompto Argentum, a close friend of the black prince here. I did have to go a little out of my way to snag this one, but let me tell you, he will be worth the trouble.”

It seemed Prompto was unconscious, or at the very least unresponsive. Noctis knew Adagium would change that.

The chat was going ballistic in the meantime.

_ kill the pretty bitch already _

_ cut his fingers off like the last one! _

How could they demand such gruesome things? Noctis had forgotten his keyboard and was holding the edges of the desktop tightly, distraught at seeing his best friend tied up like that. He appeared uninjured, but Noctis assumed it wouldn’t stay like that for long.

Adagium slapped Prompto awake. The blond cried out in surprise, eyes blinking to adjust to the darkness. He swivelled his head to and fro, trying to figure out where he was. Upon seeing the white mask so close to his face, he whimpered and struggled to get away from it. Had he been here this whole time, chained up like that? Noctis hoped not. It looked extremely uncomfortable, his wrists feeling numb just at the sight of it. 

“Wakey wakey,” Adagium taunted, grasping Prompto’s chin within his index finger and thumb. Prompto whined under his touch. “Come now, I have hardly touched you. Why so upset?”

The chatroom gave off a chorus of gleeful taunts. Noctis refused to look, keeping his eyes on his friend.

“Regardless of the special occasion, I’m afraid this night’s show belongs to the black prince. Do you know who that is, Prompto? Why, it is only your very best friend! I shan’t say his true name, but I’m sure you can guess who by his alias.”

Noctis was so angry he almost crushed his desktop in his hands. How dare this sick son of a bitch do this! How dare he go out of his way to snatch up Prompto, an innocent kid who had done nothing wrong, and string him up like this! All because Noctis had threatened to rightfully call the police as he watched this nutjob kill a real person. He knew it wasn’t fake anymore. He had witnessed a real death that night, and now Adagium was dangling his friend in front of him behind a screen. Right before his eyes, yet he had never been further out of reach.

The teen cringed as Adagium began to laugh. A sick, maniacal laugh that echoed around the cellar room. Since the audio quality was so bad it came across as a mess of static, although it was still no less disturbing. Prompto, hanging on the metal crucifix, rattled his chains. 

“We’re going to play a little game,” Adagium finally said. He held a finger up. “Black prince, listen carefully, for you are the sole player. Lucky you.”

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ what fucking game?? _

The killer chuckled once more. “A game played between you, your friend here, and yours truly. Now, since this is blondie’s first visit, I will be gentle. May the chat please suggest on what we’ll do to him? Keep it civil, please.”

Screeching and yelling, the chatroom became a buzz of demands. Noctis’ mouth fell open in a horrified gasp when he saw demands for slit wrists, broken bones, cut off fingers and other degrading acts. Adagium took his time reading each one, humming to himself.

“Very well, we’ll start off with those, shall we? Black prince! You have the option of what will happen to dear Prompto. Here, I have three cards.” He held up three playing cards between his fingers. All aces, one diamond, one spade and one heart. “The diamond is the option to cut his arms. Not fatally, of course. The spade will be a word carved into his pretty skin, and the heart will be nothing. I’m going to shuffle them, and you will choose. Good vibes, everyone!”

Noctis ground his teeth as the camera was panned down to a small table. Adagium placed the cards face down and shuffled them. He then made a gesture with his hand.

“Choose.”

Should he do this? What if he got it wrong? What if the sick fuck did all of those horrible things to him, and this ‘game’ meant nothing?

When ten seconds passed, Adagium let out a breath of irritation. “Do hurry up, or I will choose myself.”

**_blackxprince_ ** _ : alright, the middle one!! _

Adagium slowly flipped the centre card around. It was the diamond.

“ _ Fuck _ ,” Noctis swore. He watched in horror as the camera panned back out and Adagium held a small razor blade to Prompto’s arms. He then made four small incisions—nothing too bad, but it broke Noctis’ heart to hear Prompto cry like that. Blood dripped down from his elbow down to his wrist.

“And now for round two!”

Again presented with the cards, Noctis was forced to choose between a punch in the face, a broken finger and again, nothing. 

He chose the spade, AKA the broken finger. He fisted his hair in frustration as Prompto screamed. His left pinky broken, Adagium whirled around, evidently pleased with how the night was progressing.

“Splendid, splendid. I’ll wrap this up with one final round, and I will allow dear Prompto to rest up. Black prince, what will your decision be this time?”

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ please stop fucking hurting him, ill do anything if that’s what you want. please, prompto doesnt deserve this. _

“Anything, you say?” Adagium sneered. “That is quite a bold offer. Are you sure you’d do absolutely  _ anything _ ?”

Noctis hung his head.

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ please. _

There was a horrible silence. When Adagium finally answered, Noctis looked up at the screen, eyes watering with regret. 

“Oh, you  _ do _ know how to tug on an old man’s heart strings. Very well, since I’m fond of you, I’ll give you a chance. Now, I’d normally extend this to three or so weeks, but I will give you one week, and one week only, to follow my clues to find Prompto. I shall send you them via email, one a day. Would you accept that, black prince?”

Clues? What the hell did he mean by clues? Not that Noctis wasn’t a bright lad, but killers like these played mind tricks. Seen on TV shows and games all the time, they would use the most obscure clues possible. Some that often didn’t make sense. Noctis knew this above all else, though his heart hammered in his chest as he went to type his response.

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ yes. _

“Wonderful!” Adagium crowed.

**_blackxprince:_ ** _ but you have to fucking promise not to kill him. please, i’m fucking begging you, leave him the fuck alone _

Adagium snorted at that. “How the youth will beg. Fine, fine, I won’t fatally injure him as long as you play this final round with us. An eye for an eye, after all.”

He set those cursed cards down again. Sobbing, Noctis chose the one on the left.

“And we have—” Adagium paused as he turned the card over. “The heart. Well, that’s boring.”

And, sticking to his word, he did not cause Prompto any more harm. The chat was disappointed, but Noctis wept in gratitude. He continued to cry even as the stream ended, booting him out of the server and off the tab. When Noctis refreshed, the page refused to load.

An email came in shortly afterwards. Still bawling after witnessing such horrors, he opened it to read the new message.

_ ‘Dear black prince,  _

_ Your first clue consists of the words ‘two hours’. Good luck!’ _

Noctis grabbed his phone. He dialled the first number that he could think of, blubbering into the speaker. To his surprise, despite it being four o’clock in the morning, Ignis answered.

“Noct? What the hell is going on? Why are you phoning at this time?”

“Ignis,” he babbled, tears staining his face, “he’s—he’s got Prom, oh my fucking gods, they’ve got him and we don’t have much time—”

“Slow down. What do you mean?”

As Noctis sank to his knees, Ignis yelling at him to calm down, he could only cry. Prompto, one of his closest friends, had been kidnapped by a serial killer itching to kill him, and it was all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no, i will not stop shoehorning young verstael besithia into every single ffxv fic i write. he's hot as fuck.


	4. Butcher Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unable to do anything except discuss the situation with his friends, Noctis stews in his thoughts.

**** Ignis ended up arriving at the Lucis Caelum estate half an hour later. It had been difficult to understand Noctis over the phone due to his blubbering and sobbing, so he had jumped into his car, hastily dressed. It was needless to say that Regis was not happy.

“Noctis, what is going on?” he snapped. He was wrapped in a black dressing gown, hair unruly and greying and eyes struggling to see as he adjusted to the lights of the hallway. “What have you done to cause Ignis to come over at this ridiculous hour?”

“My deepest apologies, Mr Lucis Caelum,” said Ignis cooly.

Noctis had remained on his bedroom floor. His mouth was thick with saliva and his cheeks were crusted over with dried tears. He ignored his father at the door and whimpered when he caught sight of Ignis. He’d called him because… well, Ignis just knew what to do about anything. He never panicked, never got angry. He was by far the calmest of them all, and right now, that’s what Noctis needed. He swallowed down the rest of the sobs in his throat and pointed to his computer.

“He has him, Iggy.”

“Who has who?” Ignis asked. 

Regis rolled his eyes with a scoff at his son’s ambiguity. “You’d better start making sense.”

What exactly could he say? Ignis had no idea Noctis had been talking with a serial killer online. He knew he wasn’t fond of his dark web browsing in general, but he’d for sure fly off the handle at this. What other choice did he have? Adagium had Prompto captive—he’d seen it with his own eyes.

The way Ignis gazed at him with his steely emerald eyes made him nervous. He didn’t want to upset him, and yet he was going to _have_ to tell the truth considering Prompto’s life was at stake.

“Look,” Noctis began, “A few nights ago… I accidentally came across this website.”

Ignis took a seat next to him on the small leather sofa. Regis lingered in the hallway, trying to wake himself. Noctis felt pretty bad. His dad was getting on a bit—not that he was crippled by any means, though he had to wear a brace to walk and often complained about his back. He needed his sleep. Noctis hadn’t wanted to get him up at all, but he couldn’t just let Ignis into the house at four in the morning and _not_ tell him. He'd probably have a heart attack to see the tall man wandering the halls in the dark.

Then again, what was he going to say about Noctis’ online misadventures? He didn’t understand a thing about the internet, but there was no doubt he’d ground him for life over this.

“I got a bit carried away. I ended up on this stream, and there was this… man. In a mask. Like a plague doctor. I thought it was a joke, y’know, like a bad homemade horror clip? Except he _had_ someone, Ignis. He had someone on a chair and he tortured them.”

The bespectacled man was silent. His glasses cast a sheen over his eyes so Noctis was unable to read his shifting expression.

“There was a chat. It was late and I was kinda woozy, so I said I’d call the cops.” He stopped to shiver. “He knows my name. He sent me an email… threatening me.”

“How did this man send you an email if you were using a VPN?”

Noctis shrugged. “Beats me. I’m as confused as you. I tried to forget about it, but just now… he sent me another stream link. He has Prompto. This serial killer has Prompto and he tortured him! He made me sit there and watch, and I couldn’t do anything! He said he’d give me a week to ‘figure it out’, though I don’t know what that means. Ignis, I know you’re probably mad, but please. I  _ need _ you.”

Since all of his tears had long dried, Noctis grit his teeth and fixed his gaze to the floor. His hair laid in tangled knots yet he couldn’t be bothered to fix it. He was too scared. His best friend was in danger, all because of him.

Ignis was surprisingly calmer than he had anticipated. He flinched when he felt his hands on his shoulders, but didn’t shy away.

“Noct. If this is true, then we need to call the police.”

“What are they gonna do?” Noctis whined, avoiding eye contact. “That killer is gonna be well hidden. Besides, what if they arrest me? What if I broke the law by watching that stream?”

“I do not think it is illegal to browse such content, though it  _ is _ illegal not to report an apparent murder. I assure you, you will not be arrested.”

As expected, Regis was shocked. He stared at the two, and they watched as he went through various stages of bewilderment, to confusion and finally, to anger.

“You and your computer nonsense!” he snarled. “I swear on the Six, Noct, if this is some kind of joke—”

His son tightened his hands into fists. “It  _ isn’t _ , Dad! I’m trying to save Prompto, here!”

Ignis went and called the cops anyway. Regis pulled on some clothes in order to look presentable, and the two boys waited downstairs. They’d never imagined having to see the police twice in one day.

Two officers arrived at their front gate in five minutes. They were clearly irritated at having to be up so late, but once they recognised the estate, they plastered on fake smiles. That was one good thing about being rich, Noctis thought idly. His father’s reputation garnered politeness from all. It sure was a major difference to how the police had acted towards Verstael in the afternoon.

“Good evening, sir,” one said to Regis.

He grumbled. “Apparently my son has something of an emergency. I am unsure of the circumstances, so forgive me.”

They turned to Noctis. The teen shrank back under their gazes, though he knew this wasn’t the time to be shy. _Think about Prompto,_ he said to himself, over and over in a silent mantra.

“My friend—Prompto Argentum—went missing last night.”

“Oh, the Niff kid?”

Was the slur really necessary?

“Yeah. I know we were told to phone again tomorrow, but… someone has him.”

He lead them to his room. Umbra was watching from the bed, cautious eyes gleaming in the low light. Ignis followed them up and stood off to the side as Noctis reached for his computer. He awkwardly told the police what he’d explained to Ignis, trying not to falter under their suspicious glances. They clearly didn’t believe him. 

His first thought was to go into his email. “Look, here, this is what Adagium—I mean, the killer, sent me.”

Clicking on the app, he went to the top of the message pile to find… nothing.

Huh?

Noctis’ eyebrows furrowed together. No, this wasn’t right. He clearly recalled having two emails sent from an anonymous sender, their name obscured entirely. He hadn’t been able to track where they had come from, yet he knew for a  _ fact _ he had not deleted them. Where had they gone?!

The cops cleared their throats. “Something you wanna show us, kid?”

“No, I swear, it was right here!” Noctis argued.

He slammed the mouse down and then reached for his notes. He’d written down the URL of the first stream and the websites used to get there. He’d have to make his way back manually.

To his horror, every single website that he tried to access was down. Crown would experience regular plights of inactive websites, but this wasn’t right. When trying to reload, Noctis kept getting the notification that the site hadn’t even existed in the first place. He knew he’d typed every letter in correctly! He frantically double checked, the policemen shifting their feet impatiently from where they stood behind him. This was a disaster. He had to find that stream, he  _ had _ to prove it to them that this was all real.

Eventually, the officers grew too impatient. One sighed.

“Okay, I think we get the point. A teenager wants to impress us with his fancy hardware. I don’t know what you were getting at, though it is an offence to waste police time. We’ll let this slide, as  _ long _ as you do not contact us again with false information.”

“No, you have to believe me!” Noctis called out as the men began to leave. “Prompto’s really in danger! I can recover the emails, just give me a godsdamned moment!”

He was given the same message about calling again tomorrow, but otherwise, the policemen did not wait. Regis apologised profusely and showed them the door. When they left, he angrily turned to Noctis and gave him a light shake.

“What do you think you’re doing, having the police over? I don’t want to know what you’ve been up to, but go back to sleep. You’d better be on your best behaviour if you don’t want to be grounded for the next two months.” After giving Noctis a tonguelashing, he sighed. “Ignis, you are welcome to stay here for the night. I can give you some spare clothes.”

Ignis held up a hand. “Thank you kindly, though there is no need. I’ve brought some in the car.”

Always prepared. Noctis waited as Ignis got his clothes and some equipment before joining him in his room. There were three other guest rooms to use, but Ignis hadn’t finished doing his interrogations. He sat opposite Noctis, who had his arms wrapped around Umbra.

“Noctis, what happened, really?” he asked softly. 

Noctis was surprised he wasn’t furious. He blinked up with wet eyelashes, smoothing down Umbra’s damp fur.

“I was telling the truth. I don’t know how those emails disappeared, but I got them, Iggy! Can’t you take a longer look?”

He had brought his equipment with him, after all. He nodded and got to his feet, pulling some devices out of his bag. Some Noctis recognised, others he had never seen before. This was all stuff he couldn’t get his head around. The younger boy watched as he sat down and sorted the tangled wires, as they had been hastily shoved together due to Noctis’ frantic phonecall. He eventually settled on a single USB and a box similar to what he’d use to get into Prompto’s phone. Noctis felt a tad nervous letting Ignis on his computer after everything he’d browsed, yet  _ surely _ Ignis had seen everything by now.

It ended up being a long process.

By the time Ignis had found something, Noctis had almost fallen asleep. He lay curled up in a heap, Umbra resting his head on his side. The dog whined when Noctis disturbed him. He wearily got up, rubbing his tired eyes, and trudged over to the screen.

“Is this the email you were referring to?” Ignis asked, a tinge of worry in his voice.

There it was. Hidden amongst a string of code, tucked deep away into the smallest cracks of his computer, was the deleted email. How Adagium had gotten rid of it remotely was beyond him, and judging by the creased wrinkles on Ignis’ forehead, even _he_ was confused.

“Yeah,” Noctis breathed. “That’s it. How… did you find it?”

“I backed up your PC’s previous versions, but it seemed this fellow was intent on deleting it permanently. I wonder how he did so?”

Ignis then began to scan for viruses. Noctis shimmied away back to his bed, seeing as there was nothing either of them could do except wait. He buried his head next to Umbra, eyes drifting shut at the sight of the soft glow of the screen. They keyboard was only touched periodically, but it produced a sound that was familiar and comforting.

_ Tap, tap, tap.  _

The teen slowly began to nod off to the sound of Ignis tapping keys and clicking the mouse.

* * *

By the time Noctis woke up, it was past noon, and Ignis had disappeared. He shot up like a bullet and raced over to the computer.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The emails were still deleted, though Ignis had taken a screenshot of the coded remains and had also written down how to access it again. Good, at least there was some evidence. He figured he should call the police back, except, what would they say? A string of code wouldn’t be enough to convince them that Prompto was being held captive. Tugging at his greasy hair, Noctis groaned. 

He felt pretty terrible. Despite that, he opened his door to let Umbra out and trudged down the hallway.

Regis was sitting in the kitchen, fully dressed and eyes glued to his newspaper. He frowned when Noctis entered.

“Where’s Ignis?” he asked before his father could say anything.

“In the guest room on the third floor. He told me he was up all night on that computer of yours, so he’s sleeping in. Take a shower while you wait.”

It wasn’t said as a suggestion. Regis grimaced at the sight of Noctis’ limp hair and growing stubble. Noctis grunted in response but didn’t argue. He clambered back upstairs to his ensuite. His bedroom was on the second, and they didn’t often use the third floor besides from the one guest room and an extra living space. He wondered initially why Ignis went up there instead of somewhere closer, but then he assumed he must have wanted to keep out of their way since he came over unexpectedly. Gods bless than man—nobody deserved him besides Prompto.

A shower honestly helped. Despite how awful he felt physically and mentally, rinsing off the grime of yesterday served to improve his mood. Noctis took his time in shaving and massaging fingers into his scalp to rid himself of the oil coating it. When he was done, he felt less like a zombie and more like himself. Not entirely, though it was a start.

When he dried himself and came out, he saw that Ignis had woken up, catching a glimpse of him in the hallway. Noctis hurriedly pulled a fresh set of clothes on and went out to greet him.

“Hey, Iggy. You’re up late.”

Not that it was late for him, but for Ignis, he might as well be getting up in the middle of the night.

He nodded as he blinked away the sleep from his eyes. “My apologies. I was up until seven looking at your computer. The good news is, I couldn’t find any viruses. The bad news is, I could not identify where that email has come from.”

“Well, thanks for checking,” Noctis said.

At least he’d  _ found _ the email. It would have been extremely embarrassing for him to come up with nothing after all the fuss Noctis had made. He waited in his room for Ignis to take his own shower, and when he came out, he sat down to talk again.

“How did you even come across this man, Noct?”

“Dunno.” Noctis lied. “Well, I go on this conspiracy site called Insomnia. I found a couple of people talking about him on there. Adagium. They said he… did streams of his murder victims. I didn’t believe it at first, but I guess my curiosity got the better of me.” A dry laugh. Ignis said nothing. “It took me a few hours—I just kept digging until I found something. I found his stream. Like, you had to pay for it, but it wasn’t  _ that _ much—”

“How much are we talking?”

Noctis paused. “500 QP.”

“What?” Ignis faltered, eyes narrowing. “You spend 500 QP on something that  _ could _ have been a scam?! That’s over 2000 gil!”

Well, Ignis was right. It was a stupid thing to do. 2000 gil wasn’t a lot to them when it came to the bigger picture, but it was still an absurd price to pay for something so obscure. Noctis swallowed down any retorts and allowed Ignis to lecture him. When he was done, he shoved his glasses back into place and sighed heavily.

“And then what?”

“He had a guy I didn’t know tied to a chair. I thought it was a prank or something, but I don’t know. I got spooked and threatened to phone the cops. He—I watched him kill him, Ignis. He killed a real person. I got booted out of the tab and that’s when that first email came in.”

Since Ignis had already read the emails, Noctis didn’t need to elaborate. He watched as the man frowned in thought. 

“Why would you engage in something like that?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” said Noctis.

“And you’re positive you had your VPN running?” said Ignis.

“For sure.”

His lips turned further down. “That’s odd. Nobody should be able to get around the one you have. It’s too high tech. Perhaps he has specialist equipment.”

That had to be the only possibility. Noctis paid good money for his current VPN—a good 1000 gil per month. Pricey, yet considering he spent so much time poking into places he shouldn’t, it had been worth it. Until now, at least. However, if someone like Ignis couldn’t figure out how Adagium had gotten through to him, nobody could. Ignis was as good as any government agent when it came to probing inside a computer’s software. Maybe even better.

Noctis also had to tell Ignis of the clue, but that was when Ignis suggested meeting up with Gladio and explaining the situation to him.

Would Gladio even believe them? He was the biggest skeptic of them all. He hated Noctis’ late night shenanigans and if Ignis hadn’t killed him for putting them all into such deep shit, then Gladio absolutely would. Regardless, Noctis agreed to seeing him. Three heads were better than two, and perhaps Gladio could come up with something they overlooked.

They decided to meet up at the Starbucks in town. Noctis took Umbra seeing as it was a decent enough day and Regis struggled to take him for longer walks. Starbucks was a tad cheery considering the situation, something Noctis had pointed out before he realised he owed Ignis for coming over. There was nothing else they could do in the meantime anyway.

He pushed his wallet into Ignis’ hands before he could protest.

“It’s on me. To say thanks for coming over at a stupid time last night. Get me a caramel coffee frappuccino with cream. Large.”

While frowning at his order choice, Ignis seemed satisfied with that. Noctis took one of the outside tables and settled Umbra next to his leg as he waited. Gladio said he’d be with them in five minutes, so he’d told Ignis to just order him something now.

Ignis came back, drinks in hand, and returned his wallet. Noctis didn’t even glance at the receipt and shoved it into his pocket. He removed the rounded top from his cup and immediately started spooning the whipped cream into his mouth.

Really, he felt kind of bad for having coffee when Prompto was at the mercy of a deranged serial killer, but he  _ needed _ a distraction. His brain turned to static when he was worried, so while he felt horrible, he gratefully drank the sugary slush to help calm his nerves. Ignis was less worried seeing as he hadn’t seen the horrors for himself, though Noctis wasn’t going to let him go so soon. If he was going to help Prompto, then he would need Ignis’ help above all else.

The latter had bought himself a small cappuccino and a black americano for Gladio. Noctis grimaced at the sight. 

“There’s something I need to discuss with you guys—about the email.”

Ignis didn’t look up as he stirred his drink. “I assume this is regarding the clue this fellow left?”

Always on the ball. Noctis nodded.

“I don’t know what the fuck ‘two hours’ is supposed to mean. Two hours until  _ what _ ?”

Gladio arrived before he could answer. He gave them a lazy greeting before dragging his chair out, slumping into it as Ignis handed him his drink. 

“You got a lead on Prompto?” he asked.

Right. Noctis had been so flustered last night that he hadn’t actually told Gladio anything. He’d phoned Ignis and then not touched his cell for the rest of the night, seeing as he passed out a few hours later. Telling him was going to be awkward.

When he was finished, Gladio’s expression was worrisome. A mixture between disbelief and anger, Noctis realised guiltily as he fed the remaining cream from his drink to Umbra. Shocking how the dog wasn’t fat by now.

“What, so you’re telling me some psychopath has Prompto?” the man snarled. “ _Who_ has it out for him?”

“I don’t know who he is,” Noctis said. 

“If this is real, then I hope you’ve learned your fucking lesson.”

He already had.

Ignis went to show Gladio the screenshots of the email remains. It was hard to read, but Ignis had taken care of that by highlighting the words rather than letting Gladio sift through the code himself. He scowled as he read it.

“You sure this isn’t some prank?”

Noctis swallowed thickly. “I saw him! The fucker had Prompto tied to a cross! You two—stay at mine tonight. He said he’d send me clues over the next week, so then I can prove it to you that this guy is out there. If the police can’t do anything until later, then _we_ at least need to try!”

Gladio folded his arms, eagle tattoo rippling across his muscles, and huffed. “Well, for Prompto’s sake, I hope you’re wrong.”

They downed the remainder of their drinks and decided to go back, since the sun was setting faster than before. Back at Noctis’ house, his father was lying on the sofa with his bad leg propped up. He shifted his eyes as the three returned together.

“Mind if Ignis and Gladio stay?” Noctis asked warily. Regis nodded. His son drew his gaze over his body, eyes fixed on his leg brace for a long while. “You okay, Dad?”

“I’m fine. Just a little pain, is all.”

Seeing as how Regis was temporarily incapacited, Ignis had offered to make dinner. Score, because Ignis’ cooking was fucking great. He wished that Prompto could be there, and while the meal was good, Noctis couldn’t bring himself to enjoy it as much as he normally would. Part of him was still hoping this was one big elaborate joke. Noctis knew his eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on him, but that skepticism in the back of his mind refused to go away. Was this hindering them? He knew the other two weren’t entirely on board, yet Noctis was going to keep them here to see for themselves.

He and Gladio sat on the bed as Ignis went to check for anything suspicious on the computer.

“Two hours?” Gladio repeated after giving the email a second read. “The hell does that mean?”

“No idea. Maybe it’s… deeper than it sounds? Like two hours is 120 minutes. What if the numbers mean something?”

“Sounds kinda farfetched to me.”

It did, but what else did they have? Noctis grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down every number he could think that associated with ‘two hours’. There was two, the 120, the 60x2, 7200 seconds, and a whole other load of nonsense he thought made sense. Ignis was the math whiz, yet at the moment, he was adamantly waiting for more emails to come through. Gladio peered at the notes and grumbled.

“Whoever sent this is probably crazy. I'm willing to bet it doesn't even mean anything.”

Sure, Adagium was crazy, though somehow Noctis doubted he was stupid. That clue had to mean something, right? He was playing fair. The card game had been fair despite how fucked up it was. Why would Adagium lie?

Of course he  _ could _ lie. Noctis shivered at the thought that the clue _didn’t_ , in fact, mean anything, and he was working himself up over nothing.

It ended up being nearly midnight when Ignis almost fell off the leather recliner.

“Whoa, Iggy, you see something?” Gladio called out. He hadn’t turned his head, seemingly unbothered by the reaction until he heard Ignis’ breath hitch in his throat.

“You two might want to come look at this.”

Noctis almost shoved Gladio out of the way as he raced for the computer. 

He immediately regretted it.

There, on the screen, was yet another email. The sender name was blank like before, but this time, there was a whole load of text instead of just a few measly sentences.

_ ‘Hello again! _

_ No stream tonight, I’m afraid. However, I have included a nice photograph to keep you busy in the meantime. Show the police if you so desire, yet I wouldn’t recommend it. What would they do when they find it in your possession and have nowhere to trace it back to besides yourself? _

_ Regardless, I do wonder if you’ve figured out the first clue, black prince. If you haven’t, worry not! There are six more to go before I show you the graphics details of what makes Prompto tick. Speaking of clues, your second is ‘white’. Au revoir and happy hunting.’ _

“The fuck?” Gladio whispered in a barely audible tone. "Black prince? He referring to you?"

“This is… the same person, Noct?” Ignis said.

Noctis couldn’t answer. All he could stare at was the file that had been attached. He waited until Ignis ran a virus scan, desperate to see what the sicko had sent them but he didn’t want to risk his bank details being leaked, either.

Once Ignis was finished, they glanced at each other before clicking the link.

“Oh, gods."

They wished they hadn’t. It was bad quality, the photo looking as if it had been taken with a ten year old camera, although they could regretfully see what it consisted of.

It was Prompto, strapped to a hospital-like bed with numerous cuts over his torso. Nothing too deep, and still, they appeared so  _ painful _ . Several bigger ones had been stitched back up and Prompto’s face was contorted with pain. It was too dark to see him clearly but the dim light highlighted the fear creasing his cheeks and widening of his eyes. He had his head turned elsewhere, seemingly caught off guard when the photo was taken.

The sick bastard. The fear welling up inside Noctis was coming to a boiling point, bubbling like magma. He hated this guy.  _ Hated _ him. He would just dangle what Noctis wanted right before his eyes yet would never let him seize it.

Gladio gripping the chair caused him to look up. “Fuck. I can’t believe you were _right_ about this. What the hell do we do? What is ‘white’ supposed to mean?”

All Noctis  _ did _ know was the fact that when he found this bastard, he was going to  _ destroy  _ him.

* * *

Adagium was busy cleaning his supplies when Prompto awoke.

The blond’s eyes cracked open, crusted over with tiredness, to see a dirty white ceiling. He was confused at first, wondering where he was before the pain from earlier returned.

The stitched laced into his stomach tugged against his skin. It was hazy, but the memories of the man in the bird mask poking his fingers into his flesh was present. He dug around in every available cut crevice, blood staining his gloves. Prompto had to withhold the urge to gag. He was still strapped to the table the man had put him on after taking him off the cross, and he didn’t want to throw up while in such a position. It hurt too much. Everything hurt. From the many cuts across his chest, to his broken finger from the night before, to the redness of his wrists. He’d been tied up for  _ hours _ .

Prompto whimpered at the sight of the many medical scalpels. He’d already cried his tears away when he had first awoken here. The masked man, only introducing himself as Adagium, had him hoisted up on that crucifix and then stuck a camera in his face. He didn’t know where he was. At first, it was only a single room—windowless, grimy and filthy. It was lit by a single battery-powered lamp. 

“Up so soon?” Adagium taunted, lifting a scalpel up to the light. Prompto flinched.

“Where…” he croaked, mouth dry. He hadn’t been given any food or water since his arrival. That was probably worse than the pain in his abdomen—the aching emptiness in the pit of his stomach.

“Don't concern yourself with such trivial matters. You’re not too far away from the recording room, don’t you worry.”

He whimpered and thumped his head against the bed. He’d already done his begging and pleading, although Adagium had answered exactly none of his questions.

No harm in trying again, right?

“What do you want with me?”

Adagium snorted, the sound muffled behind his mask. “I’ve told you. It is nothing personal. You can only blame your friend for this. Form your vendetta against him, not I.”

Prompto had already figured out he was referring to Noctis, but why? What had Noctis done to warrant these kind of actions? Why the fuck did torturing  _ him _ come into this? He had only been dimly aware of the livestream, too dazed and tired to really pay much attention, except he  _ knew _ Noctis was watching. Adagium had made sure. Nobody was edgy enough to use the username 'blackxprince' except for someone like Noctis.

Was it… perhaps, that Noctis _wanted_ this?

The blond desperately shook the thought from his head. No, that couldn’t be the case. Noctis wouldn’t do this. However, he _did_ watch an awful lot of those snuff films. What if he had set this whole thing up? What if Adagium knew Noctis and they were in it together as profiting partners? 

A tear slid down his cheek just when he thought he had none left.

“Who the hell _are_ you?”

Adagium stopped. He slowly placed his scalpel down, turning to face Prompto with that horrific mask. Its curled beak was so close it almost poked him in the cheek as he leant in.

"Why, that is a vague question. I am many things. I was a medical student, at one point in my life. I am also a businessman. I am a what you would call a serial killer, as well as those two things. I lead a very busy life. Does that answer suffice?"

This lunatic was intolerable! "That's not an answer!"

A pause.

“Do you _really_ wish to know?”

Prompto tugged at his restraints. “Fucking take that mask off, you coward!”

The man let out a long, deranged laugh. It echoed through the tiled room—an indication that they were in a medical building, perhaps, one long abandoned and left to rot over the years. Adagium then went to remove his hooded cloak. Red hair spilled forth, a maroon hue that struck such a cord of familiarity within Prompto that he clamped his mouth shut.

No, it couldn’t be—

He turned. He reached both hands up to unbuckle the strap and slowly removed the mask from his face, and Prompto  _ screamed . _


	5. The Devil Card

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. i put this story on the backburner to finish off another one. some good news is that i met ray chase and adam croasdell at kupocon pomex a couple of days ago AAAAAA!! they signed my art and were so lovely EHEHHEGHEH look at the pics on my twitter!! >>> https://twitter.com/corvussam

It was needless to say that the boys did not sleep that night.

Every waking moment was poured into dissecting the vague clues Adagium had left for them. ‘White’ was even more unclear than ‘two hours’ had been. Anything could be defined as white. Was he trying to describe a specific location? The location where he held Prompto, perhaps?

“I still say this guy’s crazy and he’s winding us up,” Gladio had insisted. He was by far the angriest, pacing Noctis’ room like a caged animal, while Ignis kept his eyes glued to the PC screen. Noctis had his buried his head within his hands to hide his shame.

The reprimanding was yet to come. He knew his friends would chew him out properly when they had recovered from this whole ordeal. For now, he was engrossed in loathing himself. The picture sent chills down his spine, _unnerved_ him to his core. Typically, it had automatically deleted itself upon closing, though Ignis made backups as further evidence. He also copied the email before it disappeared from the system. How Adagium was getting through and deleting it was a mystery that even Ignis could not uncover.

It was around five in the morning by the time they fell asleep. Upon awaking several hours later, they had yet to figure out the second clue.

“It’s gotta refer to the location,” Noctis said finally.

“I agree,” said Ignis.

Gladio folded his arms. “You guys think whatever you want, but I’m gonna spend my time looking for Prompto. We should check out everywhere near here.”

“We’d never be able to do that in a week!” Noctis protested. “Not even a week, five days! How many creepy abandoned houses do you think Adagium has access to? What if he’s living miles away?”

“That is what ‘two hours’ could refer to,” Ignis muttered.

They turned to him. That wasn’t actually a bad suggestion, if the theory that Adagium was referring to a specific location was correct. It made sense. So, this mysterious location was two hours away, and was something like a white building?

Even Gladio was swayed when Noctis said it aloud. After eating breakfast, Ignis pulled up a map on his phone and began swiping across it.

Lucis was a pretty damn big country, so the options were almost endless. The amount of buildings between here and what ‘two hours’ could suggest was far too many. That also depended on how fast one was walking or driving. Two hours by foot, or by car? The differences were extraordinary, and judging by Adagium, it would in-character for him to make it as unexpected as possible. There were also the options by car at driving the speed limit, or driving at a specific speed. It made Noctis’ head hurt.

Regis was up a tad later than usual. As it was Tuesday, it was his work day, but it was past ten. 

“You not going in today?” Noctis asked him. His father shot him a glare.

“I’ll be going in later considering your shenanigans lost me several hours of sleep. Oh, and you’ll be coming with me.”

Noctis blinked. “What?”

“You think I’m leaving you behind after this? I cannot trust you to behave, Noctis.”

“I can’t go with you to work! You’ve never wanted me there!”

Regis slammed his briefcase down on the table as he shoved papers inside. He’d tried to make himself look as presentable as possible, yet the bags under his eyes were evident. He had stayed awake for quite some time last night to make sure Ignis and Gladio had settled. Not to mention his back and leg often kept him up. A twinge of guilt stirred in Noctis’ chest, but he still didn’t want to go to work with him.

“That doesn’t matter. I’m not letting you out of my sight for the rest of the week. Now, please ensure your friends arrive back home safely and then get in the car.”

Gods, Noctis thought as he stomped off. He informed Ignis and Gladio about the situation, and while they raised an eyebrow, they wouldn’t dare try and argue with Noctis’ father.

“Just text if you need anything,” Gladio said as he gave him a sharp look on the way out, “and no more fucking around online. If Prompto gets hurt, then I’ll smash your computer in myself.”

Somehow, Noctis couldn’t blame him.

Once they left, Noctis found himself in the front of the Regalia—his dad’s car—trying to avoid Regis’ glare. It was beyond awkward. Regis worked as a CEO, meaning he wouldn’t be able to actually watch him for the entirety of his work day, so Noctis had no idea what he was supposed to be doing the whole time. He sulked.

The building quickly came into view. It was one of the taller skyscrapers in the city, looming above them as Regis pulled into the private car park around the back. He had not said a word to his son during the drive and continued to remain silent on their way in. He ran a pretty large company that handled the production and selling of car parts. It hardly interested Noctis unless it was a car model he liked. All in all, it was kind of boring. He couldn’t fault the money it raked in, however.

After entering an elevator, Regis promptly took him to the 18th floor and stuck him a cafe-like room. Several corridors joined onto it, so Noctis assumed it was a break room. Vending machines were placed in the corner along with lockers and shelves.

“You are to sit here until I collect you at five. Here’s money for the vending machines for lunch.” Regis slapped money down on the table. “Don’t leave this room.”

“What if I need the bathroom?” Noctis retorted. Regis rolled his eyes.

“They’re down the hall on the left, but other than that, you remain here, Noctis. I am not tolerating any more scandals like before!”

Noctis shrugged in response. His father did nothing except sigh as he then disappeared. Well, he couldn’t expect him to be happy about this. Prompto was still in the hands of that demented serial killer, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Back home he could at least browse the web for any possible solutions to those clues. Here, he was stuck. What a godsdamned nuisance. 

He couldn’t _really_ pin all the blame on his dad either. It was reasonable he would be upset. Hell, Noctis could still hardly believe it himself.

There were some loose papers on the edge of the table. Noctis eyed them. He might not have his computer, but he could try and work more on the clues with his hand and a pen. He took a pen from one of the cupboards (it was only borrowing, considering he was going to give it back) and one of the sheets of paper. At the top, he scrawled down the words ‘two hours’ and ‘white’. He pulled out his phone for extra reference. He swiftly brought up a map of the local area and a list of buildings noted online. Time to do things the old fashioned way.

It was coming up to one o’clock when Noctis placed the pen down, hand cramping from overuse.

He had come up with several keywords relating to the clues. On two lists, he wrote down every synonym for white he could think of (with the help of a thesaurus) and possible cut off points regarding two hours. There was a lot to work with, and Noctis wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. More possibilities meant more things to narrow down. He didn’t have the _time_ for this!

Thumping his hand on the table, he cursed life. Fuck Adagium.

“Are you alright?”

Noctis jumped in surprise. He hadn’t expected anyone to show up seeing as he had been alone for the past several hours. There, in front of him, stood a familiar figure.

“Ardyn?” 

The man gave him a charismatic smile and a nod of the head. Noctis was initially shocked to see him before he remembered he was his dad’s employee. It wasn’t that big of a deal to see him here. Today, he had done away with the long coat and was just wearing a white shirt with dark slacks, along with a work tie. It was strange to see how slender he actually was without the bulky clothing he wore last time.

“Ah, Noctis,” he said in his silky voice. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Hi. Yeah, Dad brought me along. I’m, uh, kind of in trouble,” Noctis replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Ardyn chuckled. “That so? Well, I see you’ve kept yourself occupied.” He gestured to the filled paper on the table. “What are you working on?”

“Oh, um…” Noctis trailed off. How was he supposed to explain what he was doing? He couldn’t be truthful, but coming up with a lie would be complex. Knowing the slight smile on Ardyn’s face, he was probably a decent cold reader. Noctis was also a bad liar. “It’s like... a quiz? I’m trying to work out the clues.”

Gods, that was bad. He didn’t sound at all convincing. If Ardyn noticed, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he held a finger to his chin in thought.

“It seems you’ve been at it a while. Have you had lunch? You do seem a bit pale, my boy.”

The thought hadn’t occurred to him. As Noctis had eaten breakfast late, he didn’t consider himself to be hungry.

“I’m not really that hungry.”

“How about a coffee, then? Surely you could use a break.”

Noctis considered it. “Yeah, why not? I have money on me.”

Ardyn held up a hand. “Nonsense. It is my turn to foot the bill.”

“You sure?”

“Of course.”

His tone was warm. Well, Noctis pondered as he chewed on his lip, it wasn’t as if Ardyn would miss such a small amount of money if he worked in _this_ place. A coffee _did_ sound nice. His head hurt from all the brainstorming he’d done and his eyes drooped in fatigue. This whole case was ruining him and it had only been a few days.

Once Noctis accepted, Ardyn whisked him away. He felt kind of unsure about leaving, as his father had been so adamant about him staying put, although since it _was_ one of his employees he was with… Eh, it should be fine.

There was a cafe on the ground floor, so Noctis joined Ardyn in the elevator. He was silent on the way down, but he did mention being on his lunch break. Good timing, Noctis supposed.

Ardyn ordered their respective drinks and sat Noctis down at the building’s outer patio. It was a nice day. Noctis wished he could actually enjoy it.

“Well then,” Ardyn started as he went to add sugar to his coffee, “what are these clues you’re so focused on?”

Noctis swallowed his latte down. “I guess it’s like… an online challenge.” Adagium would probably snicker in amusement if he heard him describe it in such a way. “I just can’t figure it out.”

He watched closely as Ardyn took the piece of paper he’d written on. If he squinted, he was sure he could make out the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. Did he find it funny? Did he find the pathetic attempts Noctis had made to be amusing? Was it the fact he was grasping at straws, desperate to make sense of the vague keywords he had been given?

“What have you been prompted to find?”

“...A person.”

“Then these words must refer to a location!” Ardyn said cheerfully. He gestured to the first. “Two hours can mean anything, but a good place to start is at the beginning. Do you have any idea of where you’re meant to commence?”

Frowning, Noctis considered that. “Not explicitly, though I suppose… my house?”

Ardyn’s eyes gleamed. “Is it a challenge specific to you?”

He sure was prodding at every sensitive part of him. Noctis looked down.

“Yeah.”

“Then that sounds reasonable to me. Since there are no other hints, I suggest going by the internet’s suggestions of a location. Believe me, I am no expert, but I find the internet’s services to be grand when needing to find out how long it takes to arrive somewhere.”

That made some sense, though it wasn’t a guarantee. Noctis shrugged. He wrote it down anyway, just in case, but that still left them with one keyword. ‘White’ wasn’t as open, yet so many things could be described as white that it wasn’t much help. Saying that, Ardyn looked at it as if it were a huge eye-opener.

“And white refers to the building’s colour.”

“Is it really that simple?” Noctis asked incredulously.

“If it is referring to the location of a person, it should be.”

“Huh. Well, thanks for the help, Ardyn. I’ll make note of it.”

The older man tutted him playfully. “Think nothing of it, Noct. I do happen to enjoy puzzles. If you receive any more clues, then feel free to send them to me. I’m only too glad to help out the son of my employer.”

Noctis blinked as Ardyn took the pen from his hand and wrote down his phone number at the top of the paper.

For a moment, Noctis felt like perhaps Ardyn was coming on to him, but the action seemed innocent enough. There had been no other ulterior motives that Ardyn had expressed, and he had not laid a finger on him during their entire conversation. He was just a bit… how you say, _eccentric._ Noctis still pocketed the paper after folding it. It seemed Ardyn was far more rational when it came to processing theories than he was.

“I hope you know how to text,” Noctis jested.

There was that slightly maniacal laugh again. “I’m not _that_ behind in modern technology.”

Well, it was good to have another helping hand. Time was rapidly running out. There were only five days left, and the fifth would be given at the very last second no doubt. They were going to have to come up with a plan fast. Ignis had a car, so that was something, though that still didn’t ensure any success.

So much time past as he pondered his situation that Noctis was unaware as his father snuck up behind them. Regis had his fists clenched in fury as he gritted his teeth.

“What part of ‘don’t leave this room’ don’t you understand?”

The teen whirled around. It looked like Regis was about to argue further before Ardyn stood up.

“My apologies, sir. Don’t blame your son. I was the one who suggested we leave for a break.”

“Oh, Ardyn,” said Regis. He mulled over his next words. “I see. Well, I’m afraid Noctis is in a bit of trouble at the moment—”

“I’ve kept an eye on him.”

The two men stared at each other. As Noctis glanced between them, he saw a smile on Ardyn’s lips and a slight frown on his father’s. Regis wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t say anything. He only gestured for Noctis to return to the break room on the 18th floor and Ardyn to go back to work. Noctis silently followed his dad without protesting. He’d had a decent break and felt a tad more confident in the clues he had. He hoped Ardyn was right. If he was, then it meant they were moving forwards in their goal of finding Prompto.

Once he was back in his previous seat, Noctis pulled his phone up again.

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _i spoke to my dad’s colleague again. i showed him the clues and he gave me some new ideas._

There was a pause before Ignis replied almost instantaneously. 

**_Ignis Scientia:_ ** _Why are you telling someone about this affair?_

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _idk, i was trying to figure it out but i couldn’t!! just thought i’d ask ardyn and he thinks its referring to a location._

There was some back and forth messaging until Gladio finally showed up.

**_Gladio Amicitia:_ ** _ya we figured that genius_

Noctis pouted as he thumbed his phone’s digital keypad.

**_Noctis Lucis Caelum:_ ** _i mean yeah, but what he said adds up._

He then went and explained what he’d been told. They’d come up with some of what Ardyn had already said, as Gladio had mentioned so bluntly, yet it still helped to have it all down in one place. Ignis seemed to approve. It was probably a bit stupid to get an outsider’s help on this, considering it was such a serious matter, but what else were they to do? Just wait it out and hope they’d figure it out at the end? They couldn’t afford to waste the precious time they had been given.

For the rest of the afternoon, Noctis exchanged theories with his friends. He grabbed some snacks from the vending machine to fuel the hunger that had piqued at around three, and then it was two more hours to wait until his dad was finished and he finally got to go home.

As he sat in the car for the second time that day, Noctis turned to Regis. 

“Can my friends stay over again?”

He wanted them to be there in person in case anything else came through. To his disappointment, Regis shook his head.

“No. You’ve bothered them enough.”

“Why not?” Noctis whined.

“Don’t push your luck, Noctis. You’re lucky I’m not taking away your computer. Just be satisfied with that and be done with it.”

He thought the only reason his dad hadn’t taken away his PC was because he didn’t know how to. He still hadn’t recovered from the time Regis had ‘deleted’ the internet by putting the shortcut into the recycle bin. Noctis stifled a chuckle at the memory. Sure, he could always cut the wires, but he wasn’t one to waste such expensive electronics if he could help it.

Umbra pawed for attention once they arrived home. Regis fed him and Noctis took him up to his room for the next hour before their walk. 

And lo and behold, when he booted up his computer, another email had been sent.

* * *

Prompto chewed on the ropes binding his wrists. It was now the third night he had been kept here, and he was beginning to lose his mind.

Ardyn had not fed him. He had been given plenty of water to keep him alive and hydrated, but the hunger gnawing at his abdomen was driving him insane. He started gnashing his teeth on the rope to try and trick his stomach into thinking he was eating, but now he was determined enough to bite right through it. His mind still wavered with the shock of discovering who this crazed killer actually was.

He’d never known Ardyn well. Prompto’s father had been acquainted with him since they were young for unknown reasons, but Prompto rarely saw him. Needless to say, he surprised to wake up with a slight concussion and hanging on a crucifix by the hands of the same man.

Perhaps worst of all, Ardyn would not answer any questions. Prompto had demanded to know why he had gone all this way to hurt him, though his pleas fell on deaf ears. He’d hurt him badly yesterday night. The blond slept most of the day away as he had nothing else to do, yet he could hear Ardyn set up his equipment in the next room. He was planning another torture session for the camera. For the first time in his life, Prompto was regretful that cameras existed.

He still hadn’t bitten through the rope by the time Ardyn returned.

“I hope you’re up for another round tonight."

Prompto only whimpered.

On the creaky hospital bed he was tied to, he was wheeled out and into the next room. The same room that contained the crucifix and the table with all the knives. The camera was set up in the corner alongside the expensive computer it was connected to.

He swallowed thickly as Ardyn strapped the mask to his head. As he prepared the camera, an idea crept into the blond’s mind.

He knew who Ardyn was. If Noctis was watching this, then he could get the word to him. Determination swelled inside him. As soon as that camera turned on, he was going to start screaming.

Ardyn then slowly turned around. Prompto watched as he tugged what looked like a rag out from his pocket.

“Don’t assume I don’t know what you’re thinking,” he exclaimed, walking over. Prompto tried to yank his head away, but he was helpless to stop him from shoving the cloth into his mouth and keeping it there. “I won’t be having any misbehaving from you, Prompto.”

Screaming through the gag, Prompto squeezed his eyes shut as the camera lens lit up. He didn’t want to go through this again.

“Welcome, my friends. Here is our third livestream of our dear 'client', Prompto.”

This had to be one long nightmare. It had to be, Prompto thought as he yanked on the fraying ropes. Ardyn already had a knife in hand. He hadn’t said what he was planning on doing tonight, and quite frankly, Prompto had no intention of finding out.

“I see our special guest is here…”

Of course, he had to be referring to Noctis. Prompto vaguely heard him mutter the words ‘black prince’ in his frantic delirium. The more Ardyn drawled on, the more anxious he became. He just wanted to go home. _Why_ had he gone out of the house that day?!

As his teeth worked its way around the gag, Prompto dared to take a peek at his right wrist. The rope was weak from all the tugging. His skin had been torn and the scent of his own blood made him nauseous, but if he could break loose, then he’d have a chance of escaping. Ardyn had already made it clear he was planning on ending his life by the coming Sunday. He’d also gone through the sick game he was forcing Noctis to play, and Prompto didn’t have high hopes. The clues Ardyn was giving were too vague.

“Patience is a virtue, black prince. Today, there will be no interaction between you and your friend,” Ardyn droned. “I have something _special_ prepared.”

No, no, _no._ He couldn’t stay here. Prompto thrashed as Ardyn stepped back from the camera and circled the bed. He flinched when he felt a fingernail trace circles along his cheek and neck. 

Then, the glint of a knife.

If he was going to move, he was going to have to move _now_.

With a cry, Prompto ripped his hand from his bonds. The chewing had worn them down enough to snap, and Ardyn was so surprised he didn’t have time to get out of the way before Prompto aimed a punch to his stomach.

The killer let out an _‘oof’_ as he was sent stumbling backwards. Prompto’s sudden movements made the bed topple onto its side, bringing him down with it. He heard Ardyn swear, yet he couldn’t afford his fear of the man to stop him now. Once his other hand and a foot were free, he kicked the bed so that it smashed straight into Ardyn.

“You brat!” he spat through his teeth. His mask almost slid out of place. Prompto would have yanked it off, but there was no time. Lashing his other foot free, he scrambled to get up and raced out of the room.

* * *

The email, of course, had been a link to another stream. 

Noctis immediately sent it to Ignis and Gladio, but the request for money came up and neither of them could bypass it. He had then been tempted to record it with his phone but thought it wouldn’t do well for him to have such content on his person. In the end, Noctis could do naught much else besides wait and watch.

This stream launched at two in the morning. Agitated and tired, Noctis paced his room until the hours ticked down into seconds. This was infuriating. He had paper at the ready to scrawl down the third clue if Adagium was kind enough to actually give it to him. 

Once again, the usual chatroom was alive and well. It made Noctis’ stomach turn to see so many people thirsty for blood—Prompto’s blood.

The sight of Adagium’s mask made him gnash his teeth. He began with his usual intro, twirling his wrists in grandiose gestures and walking with an irritating swagger. If only Noctis could make out some sort of identifying factor, such as hair or eyes, for example. This was a man who knew how to cover himself. There was not a lock out of place, all tucked away behind the beaked mask. Noctis was pressing down so hard on his keyboard that his knuckles turned white. He felt disgusting, just _sitting_ here and being unable to do _anything._

Adagium chuckled as he read over the usernames. “I see our special guest is here…”

**_blackxprince_ ** _: dont try anything funny._

“Good evening, black prince. I do hope you’ve had a pleasant day.”

As if. Noctis leant back in his seat and snorted. He had his phone next to him, ready to keep Ignis and Gladio updated on anything unusual. From what he’d learnt from the chat, Adagium would host a victim for around three weeks before killing them, all the while keeping streams regular. Unfortunately, he had decided to be cruel this time around and cut Prompto’s time by two weeks. The bastard.

Noctis didn’t respond. What would be the point? Adagium was busy rambling, so he was not looking at his screen. Noctis watched as he circled Prompto, who was tied to a dirty metal bed. He guessed that was a bit better than the crucifix.

However, as Adagium blathered on, Noctis caught Prompto tugging at the ropes holding his wrists to the bed. The ropes were old and frayed, and it looked like the ones on his right hand was about to snap.

Could he? Could he actually manage to break loose?

Now properly engaged, Noctis leant forwards and grabbed the sides of the desktop.

“C’mon, Prompto, do it while he’s not looking!”

Adagium’s words were lost to him as he watched on. The bit of frayed rope had now completely snapped, and all Prompto had to do was shrug off the rest of the bindings. Noctis _prayed_ that Adagium wouldn’t notice.

His fingers hovered over the keys as he thought up a message to further distract him.

**_blackxprince:_ ** _why dont i make up a game this time?_

Immediately after, Adagium tutted and told him to be patient. Noctis instead watched Prompto struggle to pull his wrist free.

_Come on!_

“—I have something _special_ prepared—” Adagium continued as he spun a knife in his fingers, only to stumble back as Prompto slugged him.

“Yes!” Noctis hollered. He stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over. Prompto had done it! He laughed in delight as Adagium fell and Prompto kicked the bed right into him. How he’d managed to free himself entirely was beyond him, but Noctis found himself thanking every god he could think of.

Adagium hissed in displeasure and took off as his prisoner escaped. He disappeared off screen, and Noctis was left only with an empty room and a raging chatroom to keep him company.

* * *

Wherever he was, it was dark.

Prompto choked on the dusty, stale air as he ran from hallway to hallway. The windows were boarded up, and even if he managed to get the planks off, the glass was jagged and shattered. He wouldn’t be able to squeeze through unless he was willing to risk raking his skin against it.

Where was he supposed to go? He dove into a room on his left, pressing himself behind the door as he could hear the ragged breathing of Ardyn mere feet away. 

The man didn’t speak, and Prompto didn’t know if that was more or less creepy. He felt like he’d been teleported from his room into a horror movie. All Ardyn needed was a chainsaw to complete the scene. He shuddered at the thought. Crawling from his hiding space, he ducked under a row of tables. The building was long abandoned. In the dull light, Prompto caught side of the occasional wooden cross hung up on the wall, though that only served to confuse him further. This definitely wasn’t a church, so why was there so much religious imagery? It felt and sounded more like a hospital. The smell of chemicals had long gone, but there were many old syringes, beakers and medical gear strewn over the floor.

 _“Prompto,”_ Ardyn’s haunting voice echoed, “ _Do_ come out. We wouldn’t want dear Noctis to miss out on this experience, now would we?”

The blond bit back a sob. 

“I wonder what your father’s thinking? Would he be worried that you’re gone, or would he not care?”

 _Shut up,_ Prompto thought angrily, biting down on his fist. Yes, he and his father argued, but surely, he _had_ to be missing him.

He needed to keep going. Prompto knew that, and yet, he was so _hungry!_ How was he supposed to do anything when his body screamed for food and rest, begging to be healed after having his skin torn open and stitched back up?

The end result was inevitable. He screamed as Ardyn pounced on him. The two rolled onto to the floor, only coming to a stop when Ardyn had Prompto pinned beneath him.

“Let me go!” he wailed. “Fucking _please,_ Ardyn, just please—”

“I'm afraid running is a big no-no.”

The knife was back. Prompto howled like a banshee as Ardyn stabbed it into his palm, keeping him there. His agonised wails only ceased when he felt Ardyn press his face into the crook of his neck, his eerie chuckling causing the tears to spill forth.

“I think it’s time to send the third clue, don’t you?” He stood up and kept one boot firmly on Prompto’s chest. Ardyn pulled his phone out of his pocket and began to type an email ready. He smiled. “Your friend is such a fool. To think he is coming to me for advice on the very clues I am sending him! It’ll be far too easy to lure him here.”

“Please don't,” Prompto warbled weakly.

“Why the sad face? Soon enough, you’ll be acquainted with a friend. You won’t have to die alone after all.”


End file.
